Uncharted Islands
by the-sleepy-dormouse
Summary: Since a child, Johan always knew he wanted to travel the world and help duel spirits but unfortunately reality has a strange way of biting you in the ass. The one thing he never expected to see at his new university was his secret crush. (This is a spiritshipping story. Please enjoy.)
1. Prolog

So this first chapter is just a prolog to set the story. It is split into two sections. The first part focuses on Johan and the second part on Judai! I hope you enjoy my story! There will be more author notes at the bottom! Enjoy 3

Disclaimer: I don't own GX or any of the characters in the Yugioh franchise!

Prolog Part 1- Johan

Graduate high school, travel the world with his deck, and join the pro leagues, dueling as many people as he could, while helping people become closer to their duel spirits. Yes! That was the future Johan had seen for himself. It was the one thing he dreamed of ever since he was young and found that he had the ability to communicate with duel spirits, but reality had a way of biting you in the butt. As much as he tried to deny it, he knew that could never be his future.

Why you may ask. Well it all had to do with a promise he wished he had never made with his parents. Johan had never really shared the relationship he had with his parents with other people. His parents were very busy people, his father was a world renowned brain surgeon while his mother was a famous chef with restaurants all over the world. Their jobs kept them very busy and ever since Johan was young they spent little time with him. They were always on business trips, being gone for up so several weeks. When he was in elementary school they would leave him with his aunt and uncle, but once he was in middle school, they would leave him home alone for several days straight. Because of this, Johan learned how to care for himself. They would often leave him notes on the fridge and messages on the answering machine to remind him that though they were busy, they still loved him but as he grew older the notes and messages appeared less and less. He often found himself very lonely as a child though he never admitted it allowed.

Now, you are probably wondering about the dreaded promise that was mentioned earlier. Ever since a child, Johan found joy and fulfillment through dueling. He started dueling and communicating with duel spirits in elementary school. As a child, dueling helped ease the pain and loneliness when his parents were gone on long trips. Dueling became his life. At first his parents did not pay much mind to it but after a while they started to become worried about their only son's obsession with the game. To them dueling was just a game and nothing more. It was not a career or a future. They thought the idea of becoming a pro duelist was preposterous and silly, only lowlifes with no talent or future would go the rout of a duelist.

Johan knew his parents did not agree with dueling but he felt drawn to the sport. Around middle school dueling became more than just a game. It was his passion, it was his life, he lived and breathed dueling. It was his one true love and without it he would die! As he grew older he had the need to meet other duelists and connect with them. When he found out about the many duel academies in the world he knew he had to attend one, he just had to… He would do anything! However, he also knew his parents would never approve.

One day during his last year of middle school he approached his father and mother with the idea of letting him attend the Northern European duel academy. It was close to where he lived at the time. At first his parents refused to even listen to him, telling him that dueling was not a future and no son of theirs would waste their time going to a 'school' that's main focus was dueling. Johan was devastated at first but knew he could not give up. He told his parent he would do anything to attend that school. At this they decided to make a deal. If they enrolled him into the academy then he had to promise that once he graduated said academy he would drop the dream of becoming a duelist and follow a more 'normal' path and get a 'real' career. At the time Johan was young and dumb and agreed to it.

Now he wished he hadn't. If he had only said no and thought of his future he would not be where he was now. He knew that if he approached his parents with the idea of becoming a pro duelist now they would kill him. They always reminded him of the promise he made and never let him forget it. As much as he hated it he knew they only cared about his future and as much as he wished he could go against his parents' will, he knew he still depended on their financial support. He was not a famous duelist and it was preposterous for him to believe that he could just waltz into the pro league and make enough money to support himself. That was stupid! So he did the only thing he could do and carry on with the promise he made to his parents.

In just a few weeks he would be moving to university. His university was located in the northern region of California. The name of the university was Mist University or MU for short. It was a small University but was renowned for its growing science department. His parents were not as please with it due to it not being a big name university but they ended up supporting him going there in the end. Johan was able to get into MU with a sports scholarship. Ever since he was young he had been a good swimmer. Water polo was his sport of choice and he did a bit of competitive water polo during high school, when he was not studying abroad in Japan and did well enough to get a scholarship.

Johan was quite happy with the school. Though his major was in the sciences the school also had a small dueling program that was relatively new. He hoped to take some dueling courses on the side if he had time, though he would keep that a secret from his parents.

There was also a secret Johan had been keeping from most everyone he knew. The only people who knew of his secret were not people but the gem beasts. Despite having a real mother and father, Johan viewed the gem beasts as his true family. He knew he could tell them anything and they would always support and love him. Despite the situation he was in, he was able to get through it all because they were there for him and that is why he felt comfortable telling them anything. Sometime over the summer he discovered that he had grown feelings for one of his closest friends.

Just a few weeks ago his best friend, Judai had come to visit him in Norway. During that time his beloved rainbow dragon card had been swiped away by some villain and Judai had put his life at stake to get it back for Johan. At the time, Johan thought that he not only lost one of his beloved family members but also his best friend. While Judai was gone getting his card back Johan had finally realized that Judai meant more to him than a friend and the idea that he could possibly be destroyed by the masked duels had put Johan into a small panic attack. When Judai had arrived back with the card in hand, Johan could barely believe it. He thought for sure that he would never see Judai again. He had swung his arms around Judai giving him a big hug. It was then that he knew that the feelings he had for Judai was not just friendship but love.

Judai has spent about a week and a half at his place after and Johan so badly wanted to confess to him but could not bring himself to do it. The gem beasts knew Johan had fallen for Judai. They prompted him to confess but Johan knew Judai did not feel the same way and did not want to jeopardize their friendship. If he confessed it could possibly scare Judai off and then he would never see him again. The idea of not having Judai in his life was almost as bad as not having the gem beasts in his life. He could not afford to risk it.

He also could not bring himself to tell Judai why he chose to go to university instead of focusing on dueling. He was a bit embarrassed. He didn't know how Judai would react. Would Judai laugh at him? Think less of him? It sounded quite silly but Johan was truly devastated by how Judai would react. He didn't even really tell Judai what he planned to study. He just gave Judai a vague answer and was happy when Judai did not push the subject.

So here he was, just a week away from moving to his new home. He had packed most of his boxes and the idea of his new life was a bit exciting. He had accepted that though his future was not going quite as he planned, he was going to make the best of it. He knew that there had to be other duelists going to the school that he could meet and duel against. With a sigh and a small smile on his face he wrapped tape around his last box.

"Just one more week… I wonder what this new life will have in store for me?" he said mostly to himself as he patted Ruby on the head.

Prolog 2- Judai

Graduate high school, travel the world with his deck, and join the pro leagues, dueling as many people as he could, while helping people become closer to their duel spirits. Yes! That was the future Judai had seen for himself and it was still the future he wanted to achieve but reality had a strange way of biting you in the butt. Judai had never really expected himself to go to university. He always assumed that he would just be able to carry on with his dream of helping duel spirits while traveling the world but boy was he stupid.

When he approached his parents hoping they would give him money to get around they looked at him as if he were crazy. As much as they wanted to make their son's wishes come true they just didn't have the money to support his dreams. Reality was also quite cruel. It was hard for him to find a way to achieve his goal without financial support. He realized that traveling the world took money and he also realized that with just a high school education it would be hard for him to find a fitting job.

"Why don't you just go to university and get a BA" Yubel suggested one day. Daitoguchi sensei also agreed with Yubel telling Judai that a higher education could open many doors for his future. Judai totally brushed it off. Him! Go back to school! No way! He was done with that but as much as he tried to deny the fact that furthering his education was not necessary, something inside him told him maybe going to university was not such a bad idea. He just could not make up his mind.

As an early birthday gift his parents had surprised him with a plane ticket so that he could visit his best friend Johan for a few weeks. While he was there Johan's beloved rainbow dragon card was stolen by a masked duelist named Paradox. Johan was the most important human in Judai's life. Johan had sacrificed himself on several occasions to save Judai. Judai could not stand to see his best friend's devastation of losing his beloved card so he risked his life to get it back. He knew he had nothing to fear with Yubel on his side. He thought it was very cute how Johan worried over him so much. While he fought against Paradox to get rainbow dragon back he thought about his future. He was able to team up with two great duelists, Yusei and Yugi.

After defeating Paradox he had been able to get to know them a bit before going back to his time. Yugi talked about his high school life and Yusei talked about his beloved city. Judai admired them. It seemed like they were so sure about their futures. When it came to his life, he talked about his dream of helping duel spirits and traveling and how he didn't know the best way of going about it. He told them about how Yubel was prompting him to further his education. Both Yugi and Yusei seemed to find that to be a good idea as well but told him that when it came down to it, it's Judai's life and he had to make the decision.

Once Judai was back to his time he was surprised to see how worried Johan had been. He was able to spend the next week and a half at Johan's house. He was also surprised to find that Johan had decided to go to a university in America. He had expected Johan to carry on with his dream of dueling and helping duel spirits. When he asked Johan why he decided to go to university Johan became very quiet and was quite vague about why he made this decision. Judai did not want to push the subject too much seeing as it made Johan so uncomfortable.

Throughout this week and a half Judai felt like he noticed a change in Johan's attitude. Sometimes he would catch Johan staring at him for a long time with a dazed look in his eyes. Other times Johan would get flustered and stumble over his word when talking to Judai. When Judai got physically close to Johan he noticed that Johan would become quite fidgety. When he made eye contact with Johan, he noticed that Johan's cheeks would become pink. Judai did not understand what was wrong with his friend. Maybe he was sick or maybe he was just nervous about going to university. Judai did not worry too much about it in the end because Johan was probably fine. If something was really wrong he would tell Judai, right?

During his week with Johan, Judai thought deeply about his future. He thought about how Johan was furthering his education. Though Judai was not one to be prompted by what others do and say he wondered if going to university was good for him too.

Judai was sad when his time with Johan was over but he had to go back to Japan. When he got back to Japan he decided that he had to make up his decision about his future now. He didn't like the feeling of being lost and needed to find a path so that he could carry on with is life. He had to talk to someone, someone logical that he could trust and the only person he could think of was his friend Asuka. She was a very level headed girl and would surely be able to point Judai in the right direction.

A week after being back in Japan he met up with his dear friend Asuka at a cafe in the city on a humid mid July afternoon.

"So why did you want to see me so bad?" she said with a slight blush on her cheeks. Though she had resolved in her mind that her and Judai would never really work out she still harbored some feelings for the boy.

Judai sat there awkwardly for a second not saying anything. He didn't know how to start the conversation without it sounding too odd. He scratched his nose with his index finger looking to the side a bit and decided to just tell it to her straight. "It's about my future Asuka. I don't know what to do anymore. As you know when I graduated I wanted to travel the world and help duel spirits but…" he trailed off with a weak sigh.

Asuka had a surprised look on her face at first but quickly replaced it with a gentle smile. "But it's not turning out quite the way you expected," She said finishing his sentence for him. "So what exactly has caused you to fall so low?" She asked jokingly.

"I…. ummmm," Judai stammered as he looked up at the girl surprised at how well she could read him.

She gave him a smug smile "What? We have been friends for three years now! It's not that hard for me to read you," she said with a bit of sass in her tone.

Judai looked at her quite surprised once again. "I guess we did become close friends over the years." he said gave a small chuckle.

"So out with it! I can tell there is more you want to tell me," she prompted.

Judai paused for a second trying to find the right words. "Well… Many people have been telling me that I should go to university, ya know, to further my education and broaden my horizon." he said the last part mocking Daitoguchi sensei's voice.

"What? You! Go back to school," Asuka said jokingly. "But in all seriousness, Judai, going to university is not such a bad idea. It might be easier for you to find a secure job with BA so that you can achieve you dream." she said in a more logical tone.

"Yeah…." Judai with a sigh, "that's kind of what Yubel… I mean… what I was thinking. But isn't it too late for me to apply to any universities and what about the tuition?" Judai said sounding a bit exasperated.

Asuka was quite surprised to see that Judai had put so much thought behind this. She never really viewed Judai as one to plan, but she guessed even Judai worried about his future. She sat for a minute and thought. Then it hit her. She perked up with a wide grin on her face. "You know, you should get in touch with Samejima Sensei. I am sure he can help you! He has connections all over. Maybe he can find a university that can take you in." she said feeling quite proud of her self.

Judai perked up. Why didn't he think of this himself? He felt a rush of joy serge through his body. He didn't realize how hopeless he was feeling until now. "You're brilliant Asuka," he said as he leapt across the table and gave the girl a big hug.

Asuka blushed wildly as she lightly patted Judai on the back. "It's no big deal Judai," she said with a nervous laugh. She pulled Judai off of her and looked him strictly in the eyes. "Judai, time is running out and so you should contact him soon. He will probably pull a lot of strings for you so you really need to think about this before you go through with it and make sure it's what you want. It will be bad for Samejima Sensei if you pull out half way," she said wanting to remind Judai that this was not a game anymore and he needed to take this seriously.

Judai gave her a nod and a confident smile. "Thanks Asuka! I knew I could trust you opinion."

Asuka blushed a bit and cleared her throat looking down.

"So, you will be moving to America soon to study abroad and become a teacher, correct. Are you excited?" Judai said deciding to lighten up the mood a bit.

He enjoyed the rest of the day with Asuka catching up with the girl. It felt nice to see an old high school friend again. He felt like he was back on track.

That night when he got home he contacted Samejima Sensei with his conundrum. In just a few days he received an email back from said teacher with good news. It turns out that a small university in Northern California had opened up a new program that focused on dueling. It was a small program that still needed more people to join so that it could grow. Samejima Sensei, knowing that Judai was a great duelist, had contacted the head of the program and told them about Judai. The head honcho of the program was very excited to hear about Judai and was able to offer a full ride scholarship to Judai granted that Judai majored in the dueling program. Judai was more than happy to comply. He signed up for the university immediately excited to see that his life was on some sort of a path again.

So here he was, just a week away from moving to his new home. He had packed most of his boxes and the idea of his new life was a bit exciting. He was quite surprised himself at how excited he was to go back to school. But it was not the idea of being back in school that made him so excited. It was the idea that he was one step closer to achieving his dream. He was very excited to meet the other duelists at this school. With a crocodile smile on his face he wrapped tape around his last box.

"Just one more week… I wonder what this new life will have in store for me" he said mostly to himself as he smirked up at Yubel and Daitoguchi Sensei.

So this is the end of the prolog. I hope you enjoyed it. I am in no way a professional writer so please excuse any mistakes I have made! This is also my first try at writing a story that is not a one shot! I am very excited about writing this story and already have a pretty good idea of where is it going and how it will end. Please review and let me know what you think 3

I want to give a special thanks to my beta Judaisbutt for helping me! Love you 3


	2. Chapter 1

(So here is Chapter 1. Sorry it took so long. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Yugioh GX characters w)

Chapter 1

The day had finally come, though he was exhausted from jet lag, Johan was very excited about seeing his new home. He had all of his boxes shipped to the school itself. All he had with him was his giant lime green suitcase and a backpack. He wore a light blue t-shirt, blue jeans and plain black converse. He was listening to his ipod on shuffle as he sat in the air shuttle taxi that was taking him to his university looking out the window at all the new sights. His university was situated very close to the coast line. He was quite surprised to see how cool and overcast it could be in Northern California. He had always expected California to be white sandy beaches, warm weather and plam trees but the cost line he was looking at was quite rocky with a few sandy beaches here and there. It was quite pretty to see the wave's crash against the rocks. He liked it.

After a while the air shuttle taxi arrived at his school. Looking down at the map he was using to help the driver get him to his dorm, Johan realized that though his school was small student and faculty wise, it was still quite large land wise. Many of the buildings were spread out. It seemed that each section was dedicated to different departments. Taking a closer look at the map he noticed that the science department was on the far left of the map while the small dueling department was all the way on the other side of campus. It looked like it could take up to 30minutes for him to get from his department to the dueling area. He frowned at this but decided there was not much he could do. His dorm room was situated about 5 minutes away from the science building. At least getting to most of his classes was not going to be that hard. He shrugged as he pointed the driver in the right direction.

Dropping Johan off outside his dorm room the driver wished him luck and drove off. Johan looked up at the large building. It looked to be about five stories high. His paper seemed to read that this was the building reserved for students who were active in sports teams. He remembered getting an email informing him that his roommate would be someone else that was on the water polo team with him; something about building good team spirit. He looked at the paper again and it read that he would be in room 408. He looked back at the building and mentally counted the windows. It looked like maybe he got a corner room. He looked back down at the paper one last time to check that he was certain that this was the right place.

After making sure all was correct he grabbed his oversize suitcase and made his way to the front door. Once inside the building the first thing he noticed was a hug common room with many plush couches situated around a large flat screen TV. 'This must be some sort of common room or lobby' he thought as he looked the room over. He then noticed that there was a desk across from him with a sign that read 'Dorm Room Check In'. He made his way over to the desk.

Behind the desk there sat a very peppy looking boy with short black hair, glasses and freckles strewn across his nose and cheeks. There was also a girl with chin length brown hair who looked like she still needed a few more hours of sleep. "Why hello there!" the boy said with a big grin on his face as he motioned Johan to come forward. Johan dragged his luggage over to the desk. He looked at the boy and assumed that this boy had to have been an upper classman, maybe a junior. "Is there anything we can do for you sir. Are you here to check in?" the boy asked.

"Duh! Of course, he is here to check in! It IS the start of check in week for people in our dorm," the girl huffed emphasizing the 'is' and rolled her eyes before Johan could answer. The peppy boy frowned at the girl giving a very indignant look and mumbled something under his breath about trying to be welcoming.

Johan gave a nervous smile not quite sure how to react. Taking a deep breath he said "Yes, I am here for check in. I think this is my building."

"Okay then, please give us your name and we will check over everything and get you your key," the boy said with a kind smile.

"My name is Johan Anderson," Johan said trying to sound friendly and not to shaky. He didn't know why he felt so nervous, or was he excited. Maybe it was due to jet lag or being in a new environment. Looking back, when he went to Duel Academy in Japan he had a little bit of nerves and excitement but not like this. Maybe this was part of growing up. Starting something new would make anyone nervous right? 'Or maybe the idea of a future that is not revolved around dueling upsets me,' he thought but quickly wiped it from his mind.

The girl typed something into the computer a scrolled for a bit. "Oh here it…" she started to say but was cut off by the boy next to her.

"Ah! Johan Anderson! Here you are… and look, you're a member of the water polo team," the black haired boy said this all with an overly cheerful voice not even noticing that he pissed off his partner. He gave Johan a wide grin and just stared at him.

"Oh! Yeah… Yes I am," Johan said with a bit of a sweat drop and a nervous laugh. Johan was not quite sure how to react to the overzealous boy.

The girl put her hand on the boy's face and pushed him back, causing him to sit in his seat. "You are doing it again Josh," she said as she pushed the boy back a bit. She then turned to Johan. "I'm sorry about that but despite his age Josh still has trouble controlling himself," she said this all with what seemed to be a very forced smile. Josh pulled his face away from the girl's hand and frowned at her like a two year old who had just been told no by his mother. The girl gave him an even sterner look as if to say 'Do you want to be punished?' and at this Josh cowered. Johan assumed that she had been working with the boy all day and had probably had enough of his over joyous attitude.

"Oh, it's okay," Johan said with a chuckle. He felt that these two made a very funny pair. He also felt some of his nerves lift.

The girl then cleared her throat and gave Johan a more genuine smile. "It says here that you are in room 408," She said as she looked back at her computer. "It also seems that your roommate has already checked in and received his key." She then turned to Josh, giving him a very stern look. "Get him his key and the paper work," she said in a very flat tone.

At this Josh jumped a bit making a small squeaking noise. He got up from his chair and without a word ran into a small office behind the counter to get the paperwork and key.

The girl then turned back to Johan replacing her stern look with a… less stern look. "My name is Bella and my annoying partner is Josh. We are two of the five RA's in the building. There is one RA for each floor. My room is situated on the third floor and Josh's room is on the first. If you have any problem throughout the year feel free to see me," she said all this as if it had been recited by heart. Johan assumed that it probably had been, being that she probably had to tell every new freshman that came in.

Just then Josh came out of the back room still a little flustered. He handed the key off to Bella and sat back down in his seat without saying a word. It seemed he was not willing to push Bella's buttons. Johan didn't know why but he just assumed that Bella might be one of those people you don't want to cross. He made a note of it for later.

"Before we give you your key please read over this form and sign" Bella said handing Johan a form. Johan read over the form. It was mostly rules about living in the dorm; such as quiet hours, fees if there were any damages and so on. After signing the form the girl handed Johan the key and he took, and slipping it into his pocket.

Bella then pulled out a few more papers. "Here is a map of the building with the fire exits and on the other side lists the trash days. Please don't forget to take your trash out." Without missing a beat she then put a small stack of papers under Johan's nose. "Here is a school calendar with various dates. Please read over it when you have time." Johan took the papers from here giving it a once over before stuffing the papers into his backpack. She then pulled out a small booklet of stapled together papers. "Here is orientation information about school and what not. I am sure it will be able to answer any questions you have about school life. If you find that you are still confused then feel free to ask one of us RA's! Oh, and speaking of RA's, here are the emergency contact numbers," she said turning the booklet open to page 7. It had a list of phone numbers. "Right here is the number you call to contact the on duty RA," she said pointing to a number that was located near the bottom of the list. "Do you have any questions?" She asked giving Johan a pleasant smile due to the fact that she was able to relay all the needed information without a single distraction from her partner.

"No! I think I got it," Johan said as he shoved the papers into his backpack.

"Well then, if you find that you have any problems, please feel free to ask. We will be down here till about 9pm if you need us." She then leaned over the counter and pointed down the hall on her right. "The elevator is located down that hall," she said. She then pointed to the left where a door was located next to the lobby "and the stairwell is that way thought the door." She was about to wave him goodbye when she remember she forgot something else to tell him "Oh! For the next two weeks of school the dorm building will be unlocked so anyone can enter but after that you will need your student ID to get into the building. Please remember to pick up your ID at the main office before the two weeks are up," she said with a nod.

Johan nodded back to show that he understood. He then slipped his backpack on and made his way down the hall to the elevator waving goodbye to Josh and Bella. Despite Bella's strict demander and Josh's overzealous disposition, Johan felt that they seemed like very nice people. 'I wondered if they play duel monsters,' he thought as he dragged his suitcase into the now open elevator.

He pushed the number four button and waited for the elevator to arrive at his floor. When he heard the ting signaling it's arrival he readied himself to drag his heavy suitcase out. He pulled it out as quickly as he could so that the door would not shut on him. Once out of the elevator he looked down the hall both ways. He noticed a sign in front of him on the wall showing where the rooms were located. To his right were rooms 401 to 408 and to his left were rooms 409 to 416. He turned to the right and headed down the hallway. His room was located at the very far end of the hall.

When he got to his room he pulled his key from his pocket and opened the door. He stepped into the room and looked around. The room was quite big. Despite the fact that it was a two person room it looked like it had the potential of comfortably fitting a third person. On his immediate left he noticed a door the led to the bathroom. Johan knew that at most universities communal bathrooms were popular but it seemed that at this particular dorm there was a private bathroom for each room. Johan didn't mind having a communal bathroom. It can be fun at times but he also appreciated having privacy too.

He looked around the room more. It seemed that there was nobody here despite all the stuff in the room. To the right of the room there was a couch facing him. Up against the wall next to the door there was a small flat screen TV on a stand with what seemed to be a Wii underneath it. Next to the TV was a small refrigerator with a microwave on top of it. Next to the couch there also seemed to be a small walk in closet. 'Did all rooms come with this? Maybe this belongs to my roommate,' he thought as be closed the door behind him and stepped further into the room. Behind the couch, on the left wall of the room was a desk with boxes stacked up on it. Next to the desk was an already made bed covered in deep purple and bright orange sheets. The bed was pushed against the wall with what seemed to be the foot of the bed up against the desk and the head up against the wall on the fart side. Next to the head of the bed was a dresser for clothing. 'I guess my roommate has already claimed this side of the room,' he said with a shrug not really caring which side of the room he got.

Johan looked to the left of the room and noticed another bed that was pushed up against the far wall. On the left wall next to the head of his bed was a dresser and next to that was a desk. "I guess this is my side of the room," he said aloud as he made his way over to his bed he plopped his suitcase down on the grown and started to unpack.

He let out a sigh as he started to take out his clothes and put them away. He felt so exhausted. Johan loved to travel but it can really take a toll on you. He was looking forward to bed that night.

After he put his clothes away he made his bed, using the light blue and lime green bed sheets he brought with him. For now he only had his sheets and one blanket. He was going to have to use his jacket as a pillow until his boxes arrived. Once his bed was made he situated his laptop on his desk. The last thing he pulled out of his suitcase was his bran new duel disk he got from his aunt and uncle for his birthday. Despite his parents dislike for the sport, his aunt and uncle didn't seem to have a problem with it. He looked over the new shinny duel disk wishing he could give it a go right here and now but knew he needed and opponent for that. 'Maybe tomorrow I will check out the dueling area,' he thought setting the duel disk down on his desk.

Finished with packing he plopped down on his bed. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. It read 3:00pm. He let loose a big sigh and closed his eyes to rest feeling quite tired but knowing that taking any sort of nap would not help his jet lag too much.

"Wow Johan it's much bigger than I expected," Amethyst Cat said as she appeared out of nowhere along with the other gem beast, excluding rainbow dragon. Despite the fact that rainbow dragon was just a sprit in the human world, he was just too big for a dorm room. The gem beasts had been quiet during the travel so as to not disturb Johan too much but now that things were settling they wanted to take a look at their new home.

Ruby ran around the room mewing at all the new sights and smells. Cobalt Eagle was perched on Johan's desk chair. Emerald Turtle stood next to the desk looking around. Amber Mammoth was over by the TV inspecting the electronics. Topaz Tiger was laying on the couch. Sapphire Pegasus stood next to Johan's bed and Amethyst cat sat next to Johan on his bed. Johan let loose a big sigh letting go of all his nerves as he looked at his family. They all looked at him with big smiles on their faces. He felt a wave of comfort sweep over himself. He was so happy to have them with him. He was quite a confident headstrong person but he knew that a large majority of his confidents came from knowing he would always have them on his side.

"Yeah it is bigger than I expected," Johan said as he looked around.

"Yes, and the furniture is quite nice," Topaz Tiger purred as he stretched out on the couch.

"Topaz Tiger! You should not be on that! It belongs to his roommate!" Amethyst Cat said sternly.

"Oh, lighten up! It's not like I am actually able to touching it," Topaz Tiger said scrunching his nose up and sticking his nose out at Amethyst Cat.

"Oh not this again you two, we have not even been here for 5 minutes and you have already started," Amber Mammoth said with a sigh.

Johan could not help but laugh! The Gem Beasts really did fell like a family to him. Amethyst Cat was like an over dotting mother while Sapphire Pegasus was like a reliable father to him. Topaz Tiger was like his cool cousin always being scolded for being too rash. Amber Mammoth was like a gentle uncle while Cobalt Eagle was the sarcastic uncle. Emerald Turtle was his slightly senile yet caring grandfather and Ruby was like a sweet little sister. Rainbow Dragon was like his cool older brother he always looked up to. When he was with them he really felt like he was with a true family. He loved them all so much. No matter what the future will throw at him, Johan knew he would be okay as long as they were around!

"Johan! Don't laugh! It will only encourage him," Amethyst Cat scolding Johan as well. She really was like a mother. Johan put his hand to his mouth trying to hide his smile.

"So have you met your roommate yet," Sapphire Pegasus asked looking over at Johan.

"Oh! Not yet. It looks like he has moved in already but he must be out doing something," Johan said looking over to his roommates side of the room.

"I wonder if he likes to duel…?" Cobalt Eagle piped in.

"Hehe… Maybe," Johan said glancing at his roommates stuff but seeing nothing that stood out to be dueling items. Johan wondered if his roommate liked dueling. It didn't worry Johan too much. He just hoped he was not like his parent. Johan knew that his parents were a special case and most people did not view dueling in such a negative light. He didn't mind if his roommate was a duelist or not as long as they got along. He then reached into his pocket looking for the paper with his room information on it. It also had the name of his roommate. The paper read that his roommate's name was Brendon Suave… 'Suave? What a strange last name…' Johan thought as he looked at the paper. Johan was becoming lost in thought over what kind of person his roommate was going to be like.

"Johan…. Are you even listening?" Amethyst Cat said bending over a bit to look into Johan's eyes.

"What…!" Johan said snapping back to earth. "Oh sorry, I was thinking," he said giving her a sheepish smile.

Sapphire Pegasus cleared his throat. "I was saying that you should try to get to know your roommate. Maybe go get dinner with him tonight or something. Try to become friends with him. He is also part of your polo team right," he said trying to help Johan feel better about meeting the new person. It's not that Johan was too worried about meeting the guy, he was more excited than nervous but there was always some tension when meeting someone new.

Johan smiled warmly at Sapphire Pegasus. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I wonder when he will be coming back," Johan said leaning back a bit on his bed.

Just then, the doorknob to the room began to jiggle. Johan shot up and looked at the door. "Quick! Hide," Johan whispered to the Gem Beasts quickly forgetting that his roommate most likely could not see them. The Gem Beasts all gave Johan encouraging smiles as they faded away, all except Ruby who panicked and ran under his bed.

Johan's attention when back to the door as the door slowly opened. He held his breath for a second in anticipation. 'What was this Brendon Suave going to be like,' he thought as the door swung open.

(Okay! So here is the first official chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, sorry it took so long to come out! This fic seems to be starting out slow story wise but it will probably pick up after the next chapter! At the moment it is probably going to be a long fic so I hope you all stick around! I am very excited about writing this fic. Chapter 2 is already done; it is just waiting to be proof read! I will have it up maybe in a day or two! Chapter 2 will also address a bit of Johan's feelings for Judai /. And you will meet his roommate… I hope he does not scare you :P Well thank you all again so much for reading and, if you want to, please review 3

P.S. Thank you to Judaisbutt for being my beta 3 Love you)


	3. Chapter 2

(Hello dear readers. How are all of you doing this fine day. This update was quick but I did kind of write chapter 1 and 2 together. The other update will probably not be this quick. Please read and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Do not own Yugioh GX or any characters from the Yugioh franchise.)

Chapter 2

Johan's eyes widened as his new roommate stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. The boy standing at the door was very tall and quite tan. He must have been at least six inches (15cm) taller than Johan. His hair was a deep red-purple that was long in the front and short in the back. His bangs were all swept the left side of his faces, almost covering the upper half of his left eye. His eyes were a light yellow-brown almost golden color. He had a very confident smirk plastered across his face. He was wearing a purple t-shirt with an aqua jacket over it. He had dark blue skinny jeans on that showed off his ass well and on his feet were boots.

The boy noticed Johan right away, his smirk growing even wider. He started making his way over to Johan with a heavy swagger in his step as Johan hopped off of his bed. "Why, hello there cutie," his roommate said stopping in front of Johan and giving him a small wink.

Johan's cheeks went a light pink and he furrowed his eyebrows, grimacing a bit. 'What!? Cutie!? Does he think I am a girl!?' Johan thought to himself, not quite sure how to react to his roommates come on. Johan went to open his mouth to say something but was cut off again by his roommate.

"I was told my roommate was going to be some burly man from Europe, not a cute little doll like yourself," he snapping his fingers and pointing at Johan winking yet again.

Johan was speechless for a second. He had been told before that he had a pretty face but no one had ever compared him to a doll. He sat there with his mouth open for a second trying to find his voice. Once he did find his voice, all that came out was. "Ummmm, I'm not a girl."

At this his roommate burst out laughing, bending over holding his stomach with one hand and slapping his knee with his other hand. Tears were forming at the corner of his eyes from laughing so hard. Johan jumped back a little, surprised at his roommate's actions. 'Is he making fun of me… ?' Johan thought with a slightly offended look on his face.

His roommate then straightened up wiping the corner of his closed eyes. "Hehehe, oh too cute," he said in a breathless tone. "I can see very well that you are a boy," he said opening his eyes and looking Johan over a bit.

Johan didn't know whether to be offended or flattered. Was his new roommate attracted to him or is this how he always greets new people.

His roommate suddenly cleared his throat. "The name is Brendon Suave. My mom calls me Sweet Pea, my fans call me The Swag King, but you can call me Bret," He said shoving his hand towards Johan to shake.

Johan looked at Bret's hand for a second regaining his composure. After collecting himself he took his roommates hand firmly. He looked his roommate in the eyes and smiled brightly. "My name is Johan! Johan Anderson… My mom calls me Johan and… My friends call me Johan and… Umm… You can call me Johan too," he said this all mocking his roommate playfully.

Bret then pulled his hand back and grinned at Johan showing a bit of his purely white teeth. "Cute, nice sense of humor, and baby soft hands," he said winking yet again. Johan gave a small awkward laugh not sure how he should react to this statement. "So where do you hail from Doll Face?" he asked lifting one eyebrow and smiling at Johan.

'Doll Face?' Johan thought but shrugged it off. "I am from Norway. My father is Norwegian but my mother is originally from England. I have spent the majority of my life in Norway," Johan said deciding to ignore the pet name his roommate gave him. "And where is your home town?" Johan asked wanting to learn more about this Bret.

Bret was now sitting on his bed. He balled his hand into a fist and pointed to himself with his thumb. "I'm from San Francisco. My father is from San Francisco but my mother is originally from Oregon. I have spent the majority of my life in San Francisco," he answered sticking his tongue out playfully.

Johan couldn't help but laugh at his roommates playful antics. Despite the fact that Bret seemed to be a very forward and flirty guy, Johan felt that he could get along with him. The two sat on their beds talking to each other for a while longer getting to know each other more.

"So according to the papers I received it said that you were also on the water polo team with me," Johan said now lying on his bed with his hands under his chin to support his head.

"Yep! That's right. So I guess this makes us teammates and roommates," Bret answered as he hung his legs over the side of his bed and laid back. "I have been playing since middle school. So about seven years. How about you Doll Face?" he asked Johan.

"Oh, I stared in high school. So about four years. But I took some time off when I went to study in Japan, so maybe just three and a half years," he said as he looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling.

"Wow, you studies in Japan, Doll Face? That's awesome! Can you speak Japanese?" Bret asked.

"Oh, yeah a little," Johan said trying not to brag too much.

Bret then sat up and looked over at Johan's desk spotting his new duel disk. "Wow, dude, is that a duel disk? Do you play duel monsters?" Bret asked getting up and making his way over to the said disk.

"Oh yeah, a little…" Johan paused for a second then added "maybe more than a little." He sat up on his bed and faced his desk, where Bret was now standing. "You see, the high school I went to was a duel academy. I also went to a duel academy in Japan," Johan explained.

"Whoa, that's totally swag man! I just went to a boring old high school," he said eyeing the duel disk. "Can I touch it?" he asked looking over at Johan.

"Yeah sure, go ahead," Johan said. He was very happy to see his roommate react so positively to duel monsters. Maybe this meant he played the game as well.

Bret picked up the disk looking it over and admiring the technology. "So, are you a part of the duel program at this school?" Bret asked looking up at Johan.

"Well, no, not exactly," Johan said looking down and scratching the back for his head. "It's sort of complicated," he added.

Bret shrugged and set the duel disk back down on the desk. "It's cool man," he said knowing when to drop a subject. Despite the fact that he could be quite the flirt, he knew when a subject should not be touched.

Johan looked back up at Bret and smiled. "So… Um… do you play duel monsters?" he asked hopefully.

Bret made his way over to his desk chair and sat down. "Well, I did for a while. Ya know, just for fun," he said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "I have not played much recently. I left my deck and stuff at home," he said looking over at Johan.

"Oh…" Johan said feeling a bit disappointed. He was hopping he had found someone to duel.

Bret stared at Johan for a second, not liking the frown on his roommates face. "But, ya know what Doll Face, my house is not that far from here. Only two hours away at most. The next time I go home I will pick up my deck and my old duel disk, and then maybe we can duel or something," Bret said looking over at Johan hopping to lift the boy's spirits. Bret was an upbeat guy and didn't like it when others were down.

"Really!?" Johan said sounding a little bit too excited.

Bret smiled and nodded. "But don't expect too much from me Doll Face. I didn't attend any academy dedicated to the game," he said glad to see his roommate's spirits lift.

Just then, both of the boy's stomachs growled loudly. They both looked at each other exchanging friendly smiles. "So, uh, what are we waiting for? Let's get some grub!?" Johan suggested patting his stomach.

"Sounds good to me," Bret said standing up from his chair. Johan plucked his wallet from his bag and shoved it into his back pocket. He then stepped outside and waited for Bret to follow, who had quickly gone to the bathroom.

While waiting in the hallways Johan noticed a strange sign on the door across from their room. The sigh was on brown paper in big sloppy black letter. It read 'Welcome to the Lair of Miguel Bubbles'. 'Miguel Bubbles? What a strange name' Johan thought as he looked at the sign. He then tried to peak at the crack at the bottom of the door to see if anyone was home. There didn't seem to be a light on so their neighbor must be out.

"Let's get rolling Doll Face," Bret said popping out of there room surprising Johan a bit.

"Oh! Yeah, let's go!" Johan said straightening up a bit. He would worry about this Miguel Bubbles later.

The dining area of the school was located right in the center of the campus. Bret and Johan's dorm was located at the very south end of the campus, west of the gym and sports and health center. Across from their dorm was another dorm. If you headed north for about five minutes and went across the street you would find the science and math building. Head a little more north and you would find the quad. To the left of the quad was the dinning cafeteria and to the right of the quad was the student center and a 'to go' fast food restaurant. North of that was the school office. Across the street from the office were the library, English building and a small art building. North of those buildings, were two dorms and a foreign language building. Across the street from the dorms you would find the area dedicated to dueling. There was a small dorm to the right and a two story building to the left. There was also another area under construction. To get to the south end of campus, where Johan's dorm was, to the north end, where the duel area was, took about 20 to 30 minutes walking.

Making their way to the dining area they did not come across too many other students. It was Monday and there was still technically two weeks before school started. The reason Johan and Bret were their so early was simply due to the face that the water polo team wanted to get a head start on practice. The water polo team at their school was quite competitive and renowned for grueling practices.

Along the way Bret would take any chance he got to wink at the few girls that passed by them and even a few boys. Johan was getting the idea that Bret really was a flirt. He reminded Johan a lot of Fubuki but there was something about Bret that was different. Maybe it was because Fabuki never made a move on him.

Once they got to the quad they found that the cafeteria was not opened. The sign outside said it would open again in three days' time but luckily for them the 'to go' restaurant was open. They walked into the 'to go' building. There were a few tables situated to their left and the ordering counter straight ahead. Johan stepped forward and ordered a grilled chicken burger with fries and a cola. He took his food and headed over to a table while Bret ordered his own food.

While at the table Johan noticed Bret flirting with the girl behind the counter. She didn't seem too interested. Johan could not help but laugh at his new friend's pathetic rejection. 'Does he flirt with everyone?' Johan thought to himself, a little amused.

Bret finally came over and sat down across from Johan. "I almost got her number but I guess she is playing hard to get," Bret said referring the girl at the counter. The two ate there dinner peacefully together chatting about various thing. Evert once in a while Bret would flirt with a random passerbyer and seceded in collecting the number of three girls that all seemed to be older then the two boys. Bret seemed to feel very accomplished. Johan wondered if Bret could give him tips on how to attract Judai's attention but whipped the thought from his mind blushing furiously.

After dinner they checked the time and saw that it was only 7pm. They then decided to go to the school office to pick up their student IDs. They both exited the restaurant together laughing about various things. Johan had found that Bret was pretty easy to get along with despite all the flirting. Once in the office building they located the area to pick up their ID cards. Once they found the area, they got into line to get their picture taken for said card, there was a girl ahead of them in line.

When it was their turn, Bret went first. Before walking forward he bent backwards a bit and whispered "let's swag up these photos," into Johan's ear giving him a sly wink. Johan gave him a confused look not quite understanding. The lady behind the camera had Bret sit on a chair with a white sheet behind him. Right as the picture was taken he changed his pose so that his hands were shaped as guns and pointed at the camera. He had a large sly grin spread across his face. He stood up from his seat looking quite satisfied with himself. The lady behind the camera was not so pleased but told him to go stand by the counter and wait for the card to print.

Johan then stepped forward to get his picture taken trying not to laugh, understanding what Bret meant by 'swag up the photos'. Johan looked over at Bret and Bret winked at him as if to say 'make it a good one'. The lady then instructed Johan to sit still. Right as the photo was taken Johan shut one eye so that he was winking and gave a thumb up. He had a large open mouth smile plastered on his face. He stood up trying hard not to giggle as he made his way over to where the cards would be printed.

"Nice one man," Bret said giving him a high-five.

After receiving their new ID cards they made their way back to their dorm. "Damn, look at that face. How can anyone not want to tap that," Brat said admiring his own ID card.

Johan laughed at his roommate not quite sure if he was joking or being serious. He then took his card out of his pocket and looked it over. He could not help but chuckle a bit at the goofy expression that was spread across his face in the photo. He then looked over at his roommate smiling, glad that he was able to get a roommate that he could goof around with. He had not had this much fun since he last saw Judai. At the thought of Judai, Johan's heart began to beat faster and his cheeks grew warm. He really did miss his friend. He wondered where Judai was now. Was he still in Japan or traveling the world? Would Judai come to visit him while he was at school?

'I wonder if I should confess to him the next time we meet,' Johan thought feeling butterflies swell up in his stomach.

Bret noticed the silly grin and the spaced out look on Johan's face. "Hey… Uh… You okay there buddy?" He said snapping Johan out of his thoughts about Judai. "Looks like you were thinking about something nice. A girl maybe…?" Bret said swinging his arm around Johan's shoulder.

"What!? N-No! I was… uh… just…" Johan said blushing furiously and trying to think of an excuse as he tried to escape his roommates grip.

"Oh come on Doll Face, you can tell me," Bret said pressing his face up against Johan's.

"No really! It's nothing. I was just thinking about… Going to see the dueling building tomorrow," Johan lied, saying the last part quickly hopping Bret would take it.

"Hehehe, yeah sure, whatever you say man," Bret said releasing Johan from his grip. They spent the rest of their walk talking more about their home towns and what not.

Once at their dorm, they rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. Arriving at their floor they stepped out of the elevator and started to make their way to their room only to be blocked by a girl. She was in the middle of the hallway bent over something, completely blocking the path. She didn't seem to notice their presence.

Johan cleared his thought and asked "Excuse me, are you okay?"

At this the girl jumped a bit making a small squawking noise. She stood up and faced the two boys. She had wavy light brown hair that reached just below he shoulders and bright green eyes. She was wearing a short frilly skirt and a cute top with cats on it. She had on lacy boots with light pink knee socks. "Oh! Excuse me! Am I blocking your path?" she said this all with an apologetic grin on her face.

Johan leaned over a bit to see what she had been bending over. It looked like a brown box that was tapped up. He looked from the box to the girl and then back to the box.

"Oh yeah," the girl said glancing at the box. "Hehe, I was moving in and, like, this box just got too heavy for me to carry so, like, I-" the girl was then cut off by non-other than Bret.

"It's okay sweet cheeks! My buddy here and I will help you out," he said giving the girl a flirty wink.

The girl giggled at Bret's come on and said, "Really dude!? Thanks!"

"Yeah, what are neighbors for," Johan said smiling at the friendly girl. "Point us into the direction of your room."

"Oh, it's, like, that way," she said pointing in the direction Johan and Bret's room was located.

Johan bent down to pick up the box but was barely able to lift if from the floor. Bret came over to give him a hand. "Damn! What you got in this woman!" Bret said as both he and Johan lifted the box off the gourd.

"Oh, ya know… girl stuff," she answered with a big grin across her face. "Here I will go unlock my room," she said racing down the hall to her room.

Johan and Bret slowly followed after the girl, both struggling to keep hold of said box. Johan wondered how this girl got the box all the way here on her own. Once they got to her room they waddle in and dropped the box by the door. Johan looked around the room in amazement. Half of the room was full of unpacked boxes. 'How could one person own so many boxes?' Johan thought to himself. Then he thought 'I wonder if she plays duel monsters?'

"Hey! Thanks, dudes, for helping me," she said putting her hands behind her back and tilting her head a bit. "Oh! My name is Elizabeth by the way… But you can call me Liz, if you want," she said putting her hand out to shake their hands.

"My name is Johan," Johan said taking her hand and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you Liz."

"And my name is Brendon, Brendon Suave. My mom called me Sweet Pea, My fan's call me The Swag King, but you can call me Bret if you wanna, Sweet Cheeks," he said taking the girl's hand and winking at her. He then pulled his hand back and said "Oh, cute and soft hands!"

The girl giggled once again at Bret's come on. "Well its nice meeting you guy. Like, where is your room?" She asked the two.

"We're room 408," Johan answered pointing in the direction of his room

"Oh! Awesome! This is room 404 so we are, like, neighbors. Let's hang out sometimes," she said with a small giggle. "Anyways I better start unpacking so I can, like, sleep in my bed tonight," She said looking over at her bed that was covered in stuff.

Johan mentally sweat dropped a little, glad that he did not have that much stuff to unpack. The two boys then bid there new friend Liz goodbye as they made their way to their room. Johan checked his phone's clock feeling a wave of exhaustion sweep over him. It read 9:30pm but to him it felt like midnight. He badly wanted to take a shower but could barely keep his eyes open. "Hey man, I think I am going to hit the hay," Johan said as he dragged himself over to his side of the room to change into his PJs.

"Okay, Doll Face! I will try to not be too loud," Bret said as he sat down at his desk and turned on his computer.

Johan climbed into his bed. He was using his jacket as a pillow. It was not the most comfortable sleeping situation but it was better than nothing. The room was mostly dark now except for the light coming for Bret's computer screen. Johan let out a deep sigh as he looked out the window that was next to him, his mind drifting and going over what had happened to him today.

It was nice to find that his roommate was someone he could get along with. It was a bonus that his roommate could also duel, though Johan had a feeling that Bret was probably not a good duelist, but it was still better than nothing. He also wondered if Liz was into dueling too. He mentally went over his plans for tomorrow. He probably would not receive his boxes for another day or two so he didn't have to worry about unpacking. There first polo practice started tomorrow in the late morning and would last for three hours. He decided that tomorrow, after his practice, he would try to make it over to the dueling area, though he had a feeling no one would be there, being that the school still had two weeks before it officially opened.

Johan rolled over onto his side so that he was fully facing the window. He looked up at the moon, his green eyes shimmering longingly in its glow, and his thoughts drifted once again to certain brown haired duelist. 'I wonder if he can see the moon too… where ever he is,' Johan thought to himself, a little more love sick then he was willing to admit. He then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, his exhausted mind full of thought of his secret crush.

Judai stared up at the moon from the window he was looking out of, not thinking about anything in particular. He has also come early to school but had not realized that his school did not officially start for another two weeks. Being an exchange student, he was allowed to move in two weeks early to allow time to acquaint himself with his surroundings. He had yet to actually make it to his university though.

At the moment, he was in the dorm room of one of his best friends, Asuka. It turns out her university was only a two hour drive from his own. It also turned out that Asuka's dear older brother, Fubuki, had been accepted into the same university as Judai. He said he wanted to be close to his baby sister in case she needed him. Asuka had rolled her eyes at this assuring her brother that she was fine on her own but he would have none of it.

Judai had been happy to find that two of his close high school friend would be nearby. It's not that he was worried about being lonely; it's just nice to have a familiar face at times, though Judai never really had to worry about being lonely with Yubel around.

"So, Judai and I shall spend a week here in San Francisco helping you settle in, then we shall head to our university via bus," Fubuki said to the two as he looked through the calendar on his phone.

Judai made a noise signifying that he heard and understood and Asuka looked up at her brother and nodded. "I will allow you two to stay till Friday," she said a bit sternly, wanting her brother to understand that she needed her space.

Fubuki frowned a bit hopping to stay till next Monday but decided not to protest. He then turned to Judai smiling widely. "Judai, I was quite surprised to find that we were going to the same university, I never…" Fubuki started to say.

"Expected that I would be going to university," Judai said finishing his friend's sentence with a sigh. "Yeah, me too!" then added bluntly. Though Judai had been very gung-ho about this at first, he was now having second thoughts. 'Why had he decided to go back to school again? He never really liked studying ways. Wasn't university supposed to be like high school but harder?' He thought all this as he looked out the window pouting a bit.

Asuka glanced over at Judai giving him a concerned look. "I thought you were excited about starting your new life," she said raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"Yeah I WAS excited until I stupidly accepted returning back to the boring school life I once had," Judai replied a little dramatically.

"Oh, come on Judai!" Asuka said rolling her eyes. "University life is nothing like high school life and at university you get to choose many of the courses you take, so you will be learning about things you want to learn," Asuka said trying to talk some reason into the pouting boy.

Asuka did have a point. There were many classes under the dueling department that caught Judai's eye, one of them being on how to program and create your own duel disk. Judai felt that that was a skill he needed. On the other hand there were still so many classes that seemed so tedious and boring. Some of the classes he was not looking forward to were the math classes he had to take. 'Why do I need to take more math! I know how to add and subtract. What more does a duelist need to learn how to do,' he thought to himself stubbornly.

"Tisk Tisk Judai, it is not good to judge a book by its cover. Let's get to the university and meet some other duelists before we decide if our choices were good or bad," Fubuki said all of this in a sing song voice hoping to lighten the moon.

Judai could not help but smile at his expressive friend. "Yeah, I guess you're right. For all I know it could turn out being the best years of my life," he said with a now content sigh. He looked out the window at the moon yet again. 'I wonder what I will find and who I will meet at this school,' he thought as his brown eyes shined from the moon's glow.

(So this was chapter 2! Did you enjoy it? I hope so. I hope the characters I made in this did not scare you but made you laugh. For the majority of this story it will be Johan centric with a little focus on Judai here and there to keep the story rolling smoothly. The next chapter should be out in about a week. I am about half way done with it now so it should not take too long to post it. After the next chapter the story should pick up and get juicy, if ya know what I mean. Well I hope you all enjoyed reading chapter two. Please review if you have time.

I want to thank Judaisbutt again for being my beta!)


	4. Chapter 3

(So here is chapter three! I am sorry about the sudden change between Judai and Johan in the last Chapter. I meant to put a transition between the two but it got deleted and I have no clue why! Like I said, here is the next chapter! It is a bit longer than the others! I hope you enjoy it)

(I don't own Yugioh or Yugioh GX or any of the characters from the show/game.)

Chapter 3

Johan woke up early the next morning, feeling surprisingly refreshed. He had expected his neck to hurt due to the lack of having a pillow but that was not the case. He rolled out of bed, collected some cloths and made his way over to the shower. The last time he took a shower was back in Norway, so it must have been over 24 hours since his last shower and he was feeling it. Johan turned the shower on and waited for the water to heat up. Once the water was at his desired temperature, he stepped in and let out a loud sigh savoring the feel of the warm water as it cascaded down his pale body.

After his much needed shower, Johan exited the bathroom to find that his roommate was still sound asleep. He checked the time on his phone to find that is was still only 7:30am. He still had about three hours before he had to worry about going to his first water polo practice. Despite the fact that he was hungry he decided to wait till Bret woke up to get breakfast. Johan had a feeling that Bret would probably want to eat together before practice. Johan was also pretty sure the sign outside the 'to go' restaurant stated that, until normal school hours start, the restraint will open at 8:30am every day. Johan decided to take a stroll to help him wake up. He grabbed a light jacket, collected his deck and exited his room.

Johan stepped outside to be greeted by a partially overcast sky and cool, slightly humid, weather. There was a bit of fog dancing around his heels but it was very apparent that the sun was in the middle of burning the fog and overcast sky away. He had been told by Bret the day before that often at night and during the early morning there was fog in this area but come eight or nine o clock, most of the fog will roll out over the sea.

Johan contemplated where to walk this morning and decided to take a small path that was to the west of their dorm building. He was told that this path lead to the ocean. He strolled along the path alone enjoying the nice weather and new sights. After walking for about twenty minutes, the path opened up to a wide sandy beach. Not to his surprise, Johan found nobody there. He strolled along the beach for a bit before finding a washed up log to sit on. He looked around his surroundings, taking in the view. By this time, most of the overcast sky and the fog had rolled out to sea so the sun was shining down on him warming up his skin. Looking to the left, where he had come from, he saw that the sandy beach seemed to go on forever. To his right, about a meter or so away, he notice that the sandy beach slowly turned rocky with many of the rocks jetting out to sea. He then looked in front of himself over the ocean. The waves were big and beautiful and crashed against the rocks that were out in the ocean.

As Johan looked out over the vast ocean his thoughts wandered back to his crush. 'I wonder where he is… What is he up to?' Johan thought with a sigh. He has tried to email Judai several times after Judai had left his house but never got an answer back. Johan assumed that Judai was probably of traveling somewhere where he could not get internet. 'Maybe he is in the rainforest dueling natives and swinging from trees,' Johan smiled to himself as he pictured Judai in a loincloth swinging from tree to tree with his duel disk on his arm. The thought of Judai in a loincloth made Johan blush furiously.

Why did he have to have these feelings about his best friend? Why Judai? Deep down Johan wanted so badly to confess his love for the brown haired duelist but the fear of Judai leaving him was too great. It was not really the idea of Judai not returning his feelings that scared Johan. He was afraid that Judai would flat out reject him, never wanting to talk to the teal-haired boy again. What if Johan did confess and what if Judai reacts with disgust? Johan could not handle that. A life without Judai in it would be hell for him. The logical side of Johan knew that Judai would never knowingly hurt Johan, but the non-logical hormonal side, the one that takes control when it comes to Judai, fills his mind with thoughts of rejection. In the end his hormonal side always won. Johan just could not risk losing Judai due to his own feelings.

Once again Johan looked out over the sea. "This place is very beautiful," came an unexpected voice from next to him causing him to jump and twirl around. His eyes fell on Sapphire Pegasus. He stood next to Johan giving him a comforting smile. Johan smile back at his dear friend.

Recently the Gem Beasts have been able to tell when Johan was thinking about Judai. Johan would often sigh a lot and become very quiet. There was always a far off sad, yet love filled look in his eyes. It pained the Gem Beasts to see their dear Johan this way but there was not much they could do other than talk to him and try to comfort him with words.

"You know, I think if you told him, he would accept your feelings… Maybe not right away… but I think you do have a chance," Sapphire Pegasus said, now gazing at the ocean.

Johan stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore line. He knew that the Gem Beasts worried about him but Johan found that he could not really help the way he felt. "It doesn't even matter," Johan said after the long silence. "Even if I did confess to him and he did return my feelings, what would we do?" Johan sighed. "I don't even know where he is… He has not even answered my messages…" Johan trailed off. 'I wonder if he even thinks about me,' Johan though looking up at the sky now.

Sapphire Pegasus then turned to Johan giving him a loving but concerned look. He wished there was something more he could do for the boy, but all he could offer was his company and advice. He knew that this was something Johan had to figure out on his own. Johan then turned, making eye contact with Sapphire Pegasus. The worry in the beast's eyes sent a wave of guilt through Johan's body. He then put on a strong front, hiding the discomfort in his heart with a smile. "Hey! You guys know you don't have to worry about me. I will make it through this," Johan said trying to sound positive. "Besides, Judai is nowhere near here! This will give me more than enough time to sort out my feelings and prepare, ya know… for… re-" Johan could not finish the rest of what he was going to say, finding a limp in his throat, though still fighting to keep the smile on his face. Sapphire Pegasus then leaned in as if to nuzzle Johan's neck with his nose. Though Johan could not touch the beast, he lifted his hand up to Sapphire Pegasus's nose as if to stroke it. They held that position for a few second not saying a word.

Johan then pulled back and reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It read 8:30am. He then shook his head a bit whipping all thought of Judai and his unrequited love from his mind. 'Pull it together Johan,' he thought to himself. He stood up and patted his hands on his pants. "Well, we better start heading back. I'm kind of hungry," Johan said regaining his usual composure as he patted his stomach.

Johan and Sapphire Pegasus both made their way back to the dorms discussing the events Johan had planned for the day. Once reaching the dorm, Sapphire Pegasus disappeared and Johan went to his room. When Johan got to his room, he found his roommate awake and fooling around on his computer.

"Oh! Hey there Doll Face! I was worried you ran away from me in the night," Bret joked as he turned to greet Johan.

Johan smiled at his roommate. "Good morning Bret. You hungry? Do you want to get a bite to eat before we head off to practice," Johan asked as he took off his shoes and headed to his side of the room.

"Sure thing! Just give me a second," Bret said, as he turned back to his computer to finish up what he was doing.

Johan and Bret discussed whether they would bring their water polo stuff with them, or come back to their room and pick it all up before practice. After a bit of discussing they decided to bring their stuff along with them incase breakfast took longer than expected. According to their clocks, they had about an hour and a half before they had to worry about being at the designated meeting area for practice. Johan, being a bit on the careful side, wanted to arrive at practice a bit early. His old water polo coach would make late comers swim laps and clean the pool after practice. This had happened to Johan once in high school and he did not want to relive it. Johan had too much on his agenda today to risk it in case his new coach was just as strict.

The two boys made their way to get breakfast. When they got to the 'to go' restaurant, they got their food and ate up. Johan noticed that Bret still took time to flirt with the girl behind the counter, the same one from last night. He could not help but laugh and tease Bret a bit when he came back, yet again, rejected but not discourages. "Soon! I am sure I will get her number soon," Bret said giving Johan a wink to show his confidence.

It took the two boys about an hour to finish their breakfast, Bret had spent half the time flirting with various people and getting a few numbers. Johan had been slightly preoccupied with the TV on the wall that was broadcasting an old rerun of some recent local dueling tournament. He didn't recognize any of the people in the tournament. He assumed it must have been a state wide tournament, or something not too big, but he enjoyed watching the people duel none the less.

Bret turned back to Johan as he waved goodbye to some girls. "The brunet one was totally into me," Bret said with a smirk but got no reply from his roommate. He noticed that Johan's eyes were fixed on the TV, totally zoned out to the world around him. Bret's eyes then led to the TV to see that a duel was taking place. A small smirk spread across his face. "So, I take it you really do like dueling?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Johan jumped a bit, forgetting where he was, and turned to his roommate with a big grin on his face. "Oh yeah, of course! It's the best! If I could I would duel every day. Back in high school, I used to duel at least three to four times a day, often even more," he said this with a far off dreamy look oh is face, almost as if he was describing a lover. "It was the best! The rush of not knowing what your opponent has up their sleeve, the excitement when a strategy works, the satisfaction when a trap you laid catches them off guard and the rush you get every time you draw a new card. Dueling was also a great way to meet new people and connect…" Johan then stopped himself realizing that he was getting a bit carried away. "Hehe, I mean… Yes, I like it," he said giving his roommate an embarrassed and slightly apologetic grin for getting carried away.

'So cute…' Bret chuckled a bit and smirked at his roommate. "Well, if you like it so much, then why are you not a part of the duel program at this school?" Bret asked raising an eyebrow.

Johan didn't quite know how to answer that question. It was a subject he did not like discussing. "Well, you see…. For me… it's… it's… just a hobby," Johan lied, saying the last part very quickly, hopping he sounded convincing.

Bret titled his head in obvious disbelief. "'Just a hobby' my foot! Doll Face, anyone with eyes and a brain can see that it is more than 'just a hobby' when looking at you," Bret said with a wide eyed look as if to say 'don't lie to me'.

Johan looked down and scratched that back of his head. "It's… I guess, maybe it is more than just a hobby… but… like I said yesterday… it's sort of complicated," Johan said this all slowly trying to find the best words to describe his situation to his roommate without giving away too much. He and Bret seem to get along find but Johan had only just met him, and talking about personal things, like his parents negative view on his one passion, was something Johan did not quite feel comfortable with. Johan even had a hard time talking with the Gem Beasts about it and they were the closest people-creatures to him.

Bret could tell that Johan did not want the subject to carry on any further. Feeling guilty for causing his roommates feelings to fall so low, he decided to drop it. "Well, would you look at the time," he said quickly changing the subject. "We should probably start heading over to the pool. We would not want to be late and get punished and have to clean the pool, now would we?" he said teasing Johan a bit. Johan rolled his eyes as a small smile found its way onto his face. The two then got up and threw out there trash. With that they headed back to the gym.

Once at the gym the two boys waited in the designated meeting area. Yesterday they were sent an email telling them all where and when to meet and what was to be expected for the first day of practice. They were to meet, have a small tour of the vicinity, have a meeting about practice and what is expected of them, and then dress down and get in the pool. The two boys were the first to get to the meeting area. After about 15 minutes of waiting and getting to know some of the other boys on the team the coach finally showed up.

He was a medium sized, muscular man; his top half having a bit more muscles than his bottom half. His hair was brown and styled in a buzz cut. He had strict blue eyes, and an intimidating stare. He looked to be in his late 30's to early 40's. He name was Robert but he told the boy to address him as 'Coach Bob' or just 'Coach'. He took no time in starting his orientation for the boys.

After a brief 'get to know you' pep talk Coach Bob lead them around the huge building. The building was quite big. On the first floor there was a basketball court, a volleyball court and an indoor swimming pool, where they would sometimes have practice. The locker rooms, for the students on team sports at the school, were also located on the first floor. On the second floor there was a work out area open for all students to use as well as public locker rooms. Outside there was a track and field area. There was also a second outdoor pool, where they would also have practice depending on the day. Next to the gym was a building with some classrooms where most of the schools health classes were held. And next to that was the on campus doctor's office.

After the tour they met in the locker room and had a small meeting about practices. They were expected to show up to practice dressed down and on time. Anyone who was late would be punished. After practice they were to clean up any messes they made and put the pool back the way they found it. They also discussed safety procedures, where things were kept and what to do in case of an emergency. After the discussion was over they were given their water polo uniform, which consisted of the head gear and swimming pants, and were told to get dressed and to meet at the indoor pool.

Johan's locker was located right next to Bret's locker. Johan quickly got changed. The swim pants he had on where sea green and light blue, skin tight and went down to about mid thy, showing off his slim yet powerful legs well. His top was bear and showed off his slim but well-toned upper body. The cap on his head was also a sea green color with the number 8 on it. His head protection gear, that went over his ears, was light blue with a little green sea slug on each ear piece. The water polo uniform for the team matched with the school's colors, light blue and sea green, as well as the school's mascot, the sea slug.

Once dressed down, the boys all made their ways over to the indoor pool. They all lined up waiting nervously for the coach to say or do something. There was about nine new freshman, including Johan, on the team this year. Johan studied all the other boys around him and noticed that he was the shortest of the bunch. He never really mind being shorter than others, it was just something he noticed. The coach then blew his whistle causing all nine boys to jump and almost piss themselves. They did some light stretching and then the coach instructed the boys to get into three teams of three and take turns swimming laps to warm up. Johan was teamed up with Bret and another boy with brown eyes and brown hair. It turned out his name was James and he was from Colorado. After swimming the warm up laps they spent the rest of the time doing drills.

By the time practice was over and everyone was showered off and back in street clothes, it was almost one o'clock. Johan, Bret and a few of the other boys from the team decided to walk down the street to a nearby restaurant that was off campus for a late lunch. At lunch Johan discovered that James was also interested in dueling, but not quite to the degree Johan was. He also found out that James was thinking of being an art major. Johan enjoyed chatting with the boys on his team. After an hour or so at lunch, the boys headed back to campus and went their own ways.

Seeing that it was only three o'clock, Johan decided to go and check out the dueling area to see if there was anyone there to duel. "I think I am going to head out for a bit," he said as he placed his duel disk inside his backpack.

Bret studied Johan as Johan packed his duel disk up. "Okay. Will you be gone for long? Some of the guys from the team and I were going to meet at around seven and get dinner together. You in?" Bret asked as Johan zipped up his bag.

Putting his bag on his back, Johan thought for a second. He did not expect to be in the dueling area for too long. Part of him expected the area to be closed but he was going to go and check it out anyways. "Hummm… I should be back in time so sure, why not!" he said with a smile. He also knew that it was important for him to get closer to his teammates. "I will try to be back around five or six," and with that he headed to the door.

"Wait! One more thing," Bret said before Johan opened the door. "Be sure to win one duel from me, Doll Face," he said with a flirtatious wink.

Johan smiled and rolled his eyes. "Whatever man," Johan said as he waved goodbye to his roommate. He headed over to the far end of campus where the dueling area was located. It took him about 25 minutes to get there. It was a nice sunny cool day so he enjoyed the weather as he walked. He did not see many people on his way to the dueling area. Once at the dueling area, the first thing he noticed was that nobody seemed to be around. The dorm seemed quiet and the dueling building didn't seem to have any lights on. He decided to check to see if the door to the duel building was locked before giving up, just in case someone was around to duel.

As he walked up the path to the building's entrance he noticed someone at the door. The person was quite tall and had ear length, messy, red-brown hair. He was wearing a button up shirt with a sweater vest over it and tan khakis. He had a very slim frame; Johan almost mistook him for a girl. The man was fiddling with the doorknob. Johan wondered what he could be doing. He walked up to said man and cleared his thought. "Um… Hello," Johan said trying to get the man's attention.

With this the man nearly jumped out of his pants and turned to face Johan. He stared at Johan for a bit with wide light-brown eyes not saying anything, his mouth hanging slightly open. He had not expected anyone to be coming to the duel area for at least another couple of days. Johan noticed right away that this man was very tall. Johan had to slightly look up a bit to meet with the man's eyes.

After a few seconds of awkward silence the man seemed to snap back to reality and replaced his surprised look with a nervous smile. "Oh, um, hello there," he said waving his slender hand. "Um, is there something I can help you with…um… sir," he stuttered with a bit of a nervous shake in his voice.

Johan could sense the overpowering awkward aura that radiated from this man's being. "Yes, I was wondering if you knew if this building was open for dueling…?" Johan asked with a big friendly smile to show the shaky man that he meant no harm.

The man seemed to calm down a bit letting out a big sigh. "Oh yes… of course," he said straightening up a bit. "I am sorry to inform you, young man, but the building has already closed," he said sounding very official.

"Oh… I see," Johan said as his face fell.

At seeing the friendly smile on the boy's face got from such joy to disappointment rush a guilt came over the man. He wondered why this boy was here in the first place. All of the residents of the duel dorm were not expected to arrive until later in the week. He wondered if this boy was just a student from another area looking for something to do to pass the time. The man felt that introductions were necessary. "My name is Professor Cecil Green and I am the head of the dueling department. You may call me Professor Green," he said with a nod, his voice a lot less shaky and more controlled. "May I ask who you are?"

Johan looked up at the man surprised to find that he was a Professor. Johan thought that he was a very nervous senior. "Oh! I am Johan Anderson. I am a freshman and was… just wanting to duel for a bit I, guess," he said with a nervous smile, now knowing that this man was a teacher and not a student.

Professor Green looked at Johan for a moment taking in the young boy. He wondered if this boy was a part of the dueling program or not. "Are you a student enrolled in the dueling program," he asked with a slight tilt to his head.

"No, not really. But I am enrolled in the dueling class on Friday," Johan said with a pleasant smile.

"I see…" Professor Green said with a thoughtful sigh. "Well, I am sorry to inform you that the building is closed. Until the middle of next week the building will close everyday around three o'clock pm. Most of the teachers, staff, and students are not around during the holiday. If you want to use the facilities you will have to come between nine and three o'clock, though there is no one to duel against," he said the last part in a fast low voice.

Johan sighed in defeat. "Well I guess I will just check back later then," he said with a shrug. He decided to see if James from his team would want to try to run over after practice sometimes this week. With that he turned and headed back to his dorm.

That night he went out with his teammates to another local food joint for dinner. He and James decided to try and head to the dueling area some time later that week. Johan spent the rest of the two weeks settling in, unpacking and going to water polo practice. The practices were hard and tiring, so by the time they were over, he was always exhausted.

He also spent a few days exploring the nearby shops and restaurant. Downtown was only a 20 minute walk from his dorm room, so often after practice, he and his teammates would head into town and explore. Johan found a local card shop that he visited almost every day. Since the dueling area on campus was practically deserted for the time being, he decided dueling the locals would be better than dueling no one at all. He and James would spend time dueling random people when they had time and Johan always won his duels. Johan enjoyed dueling the children the most. He enjoyed their potential and the enthusiasm they had for the sport. When Bret joined them he would often sit and watch the duel or flirt with the girls in the shop.

During the week, they also came across a cute little duel themed café by the ocean. Many of the café's food and drinks were named after duel monsters. Johan enjoyed the caramel kuriboh coffee; it was a caramel flavored coffee drink. The café had tables where people could enjoy dueling while they eat. There was also a small dueling field outside the café by the beach. The owner of the café was a lady, who seemed to be in her early 30's, named Risa. She had long dark brown hair that went to her mid back, and calming deep blue eyes. She had told the boys that once a month she would hold a local dueling tournament and the winner was given the opportunity to name the special drink for that month. Johan knew he had to join the next tournament at the café. It just sounded like too much fun.

Throughout the week, he and Bret would also meet with the girl Liz from down the way. They would often get breakfast together before practice. It turns out Liz was part of the schools volleyball team. She was a very bright friendly girl that was almost always in a good mood. It turns out she was also in the same major as Johan so they had a few classes together.

The week flew by very fast and before Johan knew it, it was already the night before classes start. He found himself lying on his bed staring at the ceiling feeling quite drained. Bret was typing away on his computer. "Wow these past two weeks just flew by," Johan said with a sigh. He could not believe school was starting tomorrow.

"Yeah! I guess time flies when you are having fun," Bret said turning to face Johan. "Are you ready for classes tomorrow? What time is your first class?" he asked.

Johan sat up and picked up his day planner. He turned to the page where he had written down his schedule for the semester. On Mondays and Wednesdays he had a math and a biology class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he had a mandatory English class and a history class. Monday through Thursday he had practice from four to six. On Friday he had practice in the morning from 7am to 10pm and then at 1pm he had the class he was looking forward to the most, the dueling class. "My first class starts at eight, so I will probably be getting up at six thirty," Johan said rubbing his eyes feeling quite sleepy.

"Damn that sucks. My first class is at ten. I got off lucky. None of my classes are too early," Bret said winking.

"Well aren't you a lucky duck," Johan said playfully smiling at his roommate. He then looked at his clock and saw that it was 10:30pm. "Hey I am going to get to sleep," he said as he crawled under his covers.

"Yeah I think I will get to sleep too," Bret said closing his computer. "Sleep well Doll Face," he said as he turned out the lights and jumping into bed.

Johan grunted a sleepy reply and before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

"Beep Beep Beep Beep" went the sound of Johan's alarm as it went off at 6:30am. He quickly rolled around in bed to turn the alarm off before it woke his roommate. He sat up in bed, stretched out his arms and yawned widely. He rubber the sleep from his eyes as he stumbled out of bed to his dresser. He pulled out some jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of boxers with little purple Ruby head on them. Dragging his feet like a zombie, he made his way to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Once dressed, he gathered his items in his backpack and headed out to get breakfast before his first class.

In the hallway he met with Liz, whom he had made plans with the day before to get breakfast. The two greeted each other and made their way to the dining area. Outside it was very cool and quite overcast. Johan had regretted not bringing his jacket with him. The two made their way slowly to the dining hall, both still feeling a little groggy.

At the dining hall they both ordered there meal and sat at a small table next to a big window. Johan had decided to have waffles and fruit for breakfast, while Liz had granola, fruit and yogurt. The two ate together and idly chatted about their life.

Throughout the last two weeks Johan would often catch himself thinking of Judai. Certain things would remind him of his crush. Any time he dueled he would think of Judai. Whenever he saw something brown, he would think of Judai's loving brown eyes. He would even feel butterflies in his stomach when he saw people with red jackets, almost mistaking them for Judai. Johan had assumed that after not seeing Judai for over a month, his crush on the boy would lessen, but that was not the case. Everyday his thoughts would fill up more and more with Judai.

At the moment, as Johan munched away at his apple, he had seen someone with a red jacket and his thoughts once again drifted to Judai. His eyes became softer and small smile spread across his face. 'I wonder if he still wears his red jacket?' Johan thought, not realizing that he had completely stopped all movement

Liz had finished her meal first and was sipping on a cup of fresh orange juice. She noticed that Johan had stopped talking and was spacing out yet again. His eyes were glazed over and a small dopy grin was spread across his face. This was the 5th time in the past two weeks that she encountered Johan's space case mode. At first she thought that he was just tired but now she was almost certain that it was something else… but what? "So!" she started in a very snoopy tone giving Johan a sly smile "What ya thinking about?" She asked as she put her cup down and rested her chin on her hands.

Johan gasped loudly almost jumping out of his pants. 'Oh, damn! Was I doing it again,' he thought as he tried to make it seems like nothing was wrong. "Oh… nothing really," he said looking out the window. "I hope it clears up soon," Johan said hopping to change the subject.

Johan's attempt to change the subject was not a success. If there was one thing Liz loved, it was a little gossip. "Well… it sure looked to me like you were thinking of something nice, dude…" she said completely ignoring Johan's comment on the weather. "Like, a girl maybe…." she said leaning forward and adding a bit of a hum to her voice.

Johan's eyes widened as a pink blush spread across his cheeks and nose. 'Is it really that obvious?' he thought to himself, feeling a little embarrassed for being so blatantly love sick. He had not even known Liz for a month and even she could pick up on his love vibes for Judai, and she didn't even know Judai. He noted to himself that he would have to keep his daydreams under control before they get out of hand. "I was just…"he said trying to find a lie. For some reason it was a lot easier to make up a lie when talking to Bret then to Liz. It's almost as if girls had a built in lie detector when it came to love.

Right away Liz could tell that her teal-haired friend was in puppy love and she thought it was so cute. Feeling snoopy, she just had to know more. "Oh, my! So there is someone special? How long have you two been, like, dating?" she asked with a big grin on her face. Right after asking the questions she could tell that Johan's answer was not a pleasant one.

At Liz's question, Johan dropped his gaze and his eyes filled with a heartsick look, not saying anything. It's not that he didn't know how to answer her question; it's just that he didn't want to. The more he verbally talked about Judai not like him, the more realistic it was that Judai only saw him as a friend. Johan is a down to earth guy but he also has some things he likes to dream about. With Judai not around, it was easy for Johan to get lost in fantasies about a love relationship with the boy, tough he knew that they would never come to be.

Liz's snoopy grin fell to a guilty frown. She did not expect Johan's love to be unrequited. She leaned over the small table and put her hand on Johan's shoulder. "Hey dude, it's okay, rejection is a part of life… and I am sure that you will someday find someone who will accept you for who you are," she said hopping to comfort the boy.

Johan gazed up at her with a forlorn smile. "Well, I was not exactly rejected… this person… still does not know… but ya know… if I told them, they probably would not want to be around me anymore," he said the last part as if it were a sad fact.

Liz leaned back with a sigh. "What!? You are acting like it's too late, yet you have not even confronted the person about your feelings?" she said raising an eyebrow. "Who knows, dude, she might have the same feelings towards you and, like, you don't even know it," she said now crossing her arms with a smirk on her face.

"Well it doesn't even matter. I'm here in California and he…"Johan paused for a second catching himself "I mean… she, is possibly still in Japan," he said hopping Liz did not catch his 'mistake'.

To his dismay Liz did catch his 'mistake' but decided to let it slide. "Well, dude, as your friend I suggest that you, like, let this person know how you feel instead of ,like, pining over them until it's too late," she said this all as if she were the professor of love advice.

"Yeah, well it's easier said than done," Johan said in a childish tone, feeling a bit embarrassed afterwards for being so childish.

"Whatever, dude. Just promise me you will at least think of confronting this person. It's really bad to just let you feelings sit stagnate like this… I'll get worried about you," she said the last part in a sad voice.

Johan knew that Liz just wanted to see him happy and felt a bit guilty for making her worry. "Oh, okay… I promise to think about it," he said with a playful pout, trying to show her that he caved in a little bit.

"Good," Liz said with a nod. She then looked at the clock on the wall. It read 7:40. "Hey, let's get going before we are late for class," She said as she picked up her tray.

Johan took a few more bites of his apple and then followed suit. They headed over to their first class of the day, math. They arrived at the room with about 10 minutes to spare. They found a seat in the middle of the class and prepared themselves for their first lesson. There math teacher was a tall serious looking women with wild dark grey hair and glasses. Despite being strict, she seemed to be nice. The majority of the class was spent going over the year's plans.

Once math was over it was about 10:50 and Johan had about one hour before his next class of the day, biology. It turned out that Liz also shared this class with him; being that they were the same major, their schedules were very similar. They decided to head back to the dorm and relax before their next class.

Once at his dorm room Johan snacked on a sandwich he had made as he went on his computer. Bret had come to school with a car and earlier during the week, he and Johan had done a bit of grocery shopping. It was sometimes too much of a hassle to go out to eat in between classes so they decided to pick up various foods to keep on hand. The first thing Johan checked on his computer was his email. To his disappointment he had not received a single email, not from his family and not from Judai. Johan sighed softly as he munched on his sandwich.

He had been at school for two weeks and had only heard from his parents once. He knew that they were busy with their jobs and that they were living in a different time zone but is it really that hard for them to shoot a small message to their only son. He really did wish he had a better relationship with his mother and father. He knew that they cared for him but he felt like they were such strangers. When Johan was a child they were often gone at work but were never gone for more than a night. As he became older they were gone more and more. He does not even remember the last time he spent a full 24 hours with both at the same time. Despite the fact that they never seem to take much notice in communicating with Johan, they seemed to be very assertive over his life choices. And despite the fact Johan never sees them, deep down all he really wants is to make them happy and to be a family. That's all he has ever really wanted from them, was a family. 'Is that why I connected so quickly with the Gem Beasts? Because they are the family I always wanted?' Johan thought to himself as he took a sip of water. He knew that he could never truly replace his family with the Gem Beasts. His mom and dad would always be just that, his mom and dad and the Gem Beasts will always be his partners. He accepts them as a surrogate family but they will never truly be able to replace the one he already has, even if it was a bit broken at the moment.

Sitting back in his chair Johan sighed. He closed his eye a bit, not really thinking about anything. After a while there was a knock on his door. It was Liz gathering him to head off to their next class. Johan gathered his items and headed out with her to the biology class. They once again got to class with about 10 minutes to spar and once again sat in the middle row of the room. Their teacher for this class was a short smiley man with red hair a bald patch on the top of his head. He was a very cheerful teacher always trying to make jokes and silly puns. Once again they spent the majority of the class going over the years schedule and what not.

After class Johan when back to his room to ready himself for water polo practice. The practice when by quickly and before Johan knew it, his first day of school was over. He once again found himself in his bed completely wiped. Bret was on his computer chatting with various people on some social network.

"So, we have English class together tomorrow am I correct?" Bret asked looked over his shoulder at Johan.

Johan was lying on his back with one arm under his head and the other across his chest. "Yeah, I think so. It's from 8 right? Do you want to go to the cafeteria for breakfast or eat in here?" Johan asked leaning a bit so he could see Bret.

"I am fine ether way," Bret said shrugging and truing back to his computer.

The two boys decided to see how they felt in the morning. They chatting a bit more about their day and then went to bed. And so, the rest of Johan's week went on similar to this. He had two classes each day with practice in the evening. He had received little homework this week, so he was able to relax a bit. He did not find much free time to duel but he was okay with that. It gave him something to look forward to on Friday. Friday was the day he had his dueling class and it was what he used to keep his mind from thinking about his crush.

When Friday finally came, Johan was so excited that he woke up an hour early. He had practice in the morning but after that he decided he would head to the dueling area early to hopefully meet some people and get a few duels in.

Practice on Friday seemed to drag by slowly. Johan wanted it to be over quickly so that he could head over to the dueling area, but you know how it is when you want time to pass fast. It does the exact opposite. They spent the first half of practice cleaning the indoor pool and the area around it. The captain of their team, a tall upper classman with short orange hair and wild green eyes, felt that it was sort of an initiation for the freshman members, as well as good character building. Johan felt that it was bullshit but went with the flow anyways. At the beginning it was only the freshman cleaning but after a while the other members joined in. After the cleaning session they played a small practice game so that the captain and coach could see how the new members worked. Despite the fact that the mock game was fun, the time still slipped by slowly in Johan's opinion.

After practice Johan raced back to his dorm room, without waiting for any of his other team mates to finish dressing down. He started gather the stuff he needed for his class so that he could head over to the dueling area. As he was about to zip up his backpack Bret lazily strolled into the room. "Damn, Doll Face, where's the fire," he asked in a sarcastic tone and a smirk.

Johan turned to face Bret with a wide excited grin on his face. "Well, ya know. I just want to make sure I am early to my only class today," he said as he slung his overstuffed backpack onto his back, not trying to hide his excitement.

Bret raised an eyebrow as his smirk grew even wider from the dopy look on Johan's face. "So I take it you are not going to be getting lunch with the team today…?" he asked crossing his arms. Johan usually did eat meals with the team after practice, most often dinner. Johan knew that he had more than enough time to eat with them before his class started but he was just too excited. He didn't know why but he felt like he needed to get to the duel area right away. "I think I will just make a sandwich and eat it while I walk," he said with a sheepish grin.

Bret knew how excited Johan was for this class. His roommate mentioned it every day. He decided he wanted to poke a little fun at his roommate. He put on the saddest eyes he could muster up and a big sad frown. "But, Doll Face, I am going to miss you. How will I ever be able to eat lunch without your pretty face there to look at," Bret sobbed, pretending to cry into his hands.

Johan rolled his eyes and smiled at his roommates antics. He could tell that Bret was just goofing around, trying to get a reaction out of him. "Sorry, your majesty, I didn't know you needed my face so that you can eat," he spat sarcastically but could not hide his amused smile.

Bret then peaked through his fingers and looked at Johan. He stuck out his tongue and scrunched up his nose. He then straightened himself up, cleared his thought, and acted as if none of that crying nonsense happened. "Well, let me know if you want to join us for dinner later or not," he said sitting down at his desk and opening his computer. "We are probably just going to eat at the cafeteria."

Johan rolled his eyes at his roommate and made his way to the door. "Okay, I will let you know. If you don't get an answer from me by dinner, then just go ahead without me," he said looking at Bret. Bret turned around and gave him another sad look. Johan rolled his eyes again. "Listen I will join you guys next time. I promise," he said the last part as he made a cross over his heart with his index finger. And with that he left his roommate and headed to class.

Halfway to the dueling area he realized he had forgotten to grab food so he popped into the 'to go' restaurant and got a sandwich and some juice. He ate his lunch as he finished his track across campus. He must have been pretty hunger because by time he got to the dueling area, both his food and drink were gone.

The dueling area of campus was much livelier from the last time Johan visited it. Last time the buildings had all been closed and the only person around was that strange teacher, Professor Green. Now it was very evident that there was life in this area of the campus. The front door to the dueling building was open, letting in the fresh air from outside, and some of the windows to the classes were open as well. He could hear voices from inside the building though he could not understand what was being said. The dorm also seemed livelier. Some of the windows were open and Johan could hear music coming from the dorm. This all made him very excited.

He made his way over to the dueling building. It was not a hug building, only two stories high. He had been told that a new, bigger, building was being built and this would soon become a secondary building to the dueling department. He entered the building and found the floor map. It showed that the second floor was full of classes and a few offices. The left half of the first floor was more classrooms while the right half contained a dueling arena. Johan's class would be held in the dueling arena. He took a deep breath, feeling a bit nervous due to over excitement, and headed to the arena. When he got to the entrance he pushed open the door and peaked in quietly. With a fast beating heart he looked around. It looked like there was one large dueling field and two smaller ones on each side of it. Around the fields where were bleachers for people to sit.

Johan stepped in and looked around the room. There were some people already there dueling each other and others were in the bleachers watching and chatting amongst themselves. Johan all of a sudden felt a wave of nervousness sweep over him though it did not show on his face. Johan always did a good job at hiding his nervousness. 'Well, you are finally here so why not talk to someone,' he thought to himself as he sighed releasing some of his nerves. He made his way over to the small duel flied on the right side of the arena. He noticed that there were not as many people over there and some of them looked like they were freshman as well.

As he got closer to the field he could hear the voices of three people who were sitting and watching the duel. He felt like he had heard these voices somewhere. Yes he had… and were two of them speaking in Japanese to each other. As he got closer he looked at the three boys who he had heard talking and his heart almost stopped. He knew who they were. He opened his mouth but nothing came out due to shock.

(Well here is the end of chapter three! I hope you liked it. Sorry it took so long to get out and ended with a cliff hanger. A lot of information was presented in this chapter. The next one will be shorter and I think it is a bit more fun. It should be up soon. It is done and needs to be read over again. I hope you are all enjoying this story. Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts.

I also want to say thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites! It all makes me so happy to see others are enjoying this story so far. I hope you will all stick around and read till the end!

Thank you to Judaisbutt for being my beta.

See you all soon)


	5. Chapter 4

(So here is chapter 4. I wonder who it is Johan saw in the last chapter. If you read this, you will find out. You may be surprised. Or maybe not! Who knows… Anyways please enjoy)

(I do not own Yugioh GX or any of the characters from the show or game!)

Chapter 4

In his three weeks of being at this school, Johan never expected to come across people from his time in Japan, let alone his crush, but there Judai sat watching the duel making comments. Judai was next to Fubuku who was sitting next to Jim. The three boys did not seem to notice Johan's presence. Johan did not know what to do. Should he say 'hi'? Should he hide? No! He shouldn't hide but how should he approach them. They probably had no clue he was here. Then he got an idea. A sly smile slipped across his face.

Johan quietly made his way over and silently sat next to his crush, his heart pounding against his chest. He took a deep breath, barely able to pay attention to what was around him, and focused on the brown heard boy next to him. "I think he is definitely going to win," he said pointing to the guy that was dueling on the right, though Johan had not been paying attention to the duel whatsoever.

The three boys next to him almost jumped out of their pants. They did not realize that they had gained another member to their group and most definitely did not expect to see Johan next to them. They all stared at Johan as if he were a ghost, none of them saying a word.

Johan could not help but laughed and scrunch up his nose a bit. He felt like a parent who was about to take their child to Disneyland. "Oh, come on, Judai! Aren't you happy to see me…?" Johan said playfully nudging Judai with his elbow.

Judai's face went from shock to utter joy. The last person he expected to meet here was Johan. Though he had not realized it, he had missed his teal-haired friend greatly. When he had not been preoccupied with his daily life, he would often think of the great times he had with the boy. There was never a boring moment for him when Johan was around. All of a sudden Judai's negative thoughts of being back at school vanished. "J-Johan is that…. really you?" Judai asked, half expecting to wake up from a dream.

Johan swung his arm around Judai's neck, pulling the boy close. "Sure is! Me in the flesh!" Johan said pointing to himself with his free hand and winking.

Judai's grin grew twice in size. Judai had been happy to find that Jim and Fubuki were attending the same school as he but Johan being here was the decadent chocolate icing on the cake. One reason Judai had regretting going back to school what that he was afraid he would not be able to see Johan as much, but that seemed to be a thing of the past. Jim was looking at Johan with wide disbelieving eyes while Fubuki had a big grin spread across his face, almost as if he knew Johan was there all along.

"W-What? H-H-How did you get here?" Judai then asked still having a hard time talking due to his disbelief.

"Oh, I walked from my dorm room," Johan said pulling his arm away from Judai so he could see the other two as he spoke. Judai just stared at Johan, still registering what he had said.

"So, you are a student here too?" Fubuki asked in a giddy tone. Johan nodded with a smile.

"Why have we not seen you around then, mate?" Jim asked, quite curious as to why they had not run into Johan even once since coming to the school.

"Yeah," Judai added giving Johan a suspicious look. "We come here to duel every day after class but we have not seen you once? Where have you been hiding?" He asked poking Johan in the cheek.

Johan smiled as Judai poked him in the cheek. "I have been busy with classes and stuff," he said plain and simply. "Also, my dorm room is all the way across campus," he added as if it could not be helped.

"Wait! So you don't live in the dorms designated for the students in the dueling program?" Fubuki asked suspiciously.

"Yeah… I guess not," Johan said with a nervous smile. He was really happy to see his friends, especially Judai, but did not want to discuss why his major was not dueling with them at the moment.

Judai then grabbed Johan's hand and looked him in the eyes with concern. "So that means… you're not majoring in dueling?" Judai asked in a very tragic tone.

Johan looked at Judai, making full eye contact with his crush. At the eye contact Johan's heart began beat heavily against his chest. Judai's eyes were full of worry and possibly a bit of disappointment. Johan could not take the look he saw in Judai's eyes. He pressed his lips together nervously looking down a bit as he thought of how to answer Judai's question. "Well,…. You see… I…." he said slowing as he twiddled his hands in his lap. "I… guess not," Johan finished weakly not really knowing what else to tell the boy.

"But-" Judai started to say but was cut off by Jim.

"Well, it sure is good to see you again, mate," He said leaning over Fubuki and giving Johan a big smile. Out of all the people Johan met while in Japan, Jim was the most down to earth and levelheaded of them all. Jim could tell that the subject at hand was not something Johan wanted to discuss. He was sure that when Johan was ready, he would tell them the truth, but now was not that time. "So, how was your summer break?" Jim asked, changing the subject.

Judai pouted at Jim for cutting him off. He wanted to know why Johan was not studying dueling with them. It really did bother him and made no sense at all. Ever since seeing Johan over summer, he had wanted to ask why. At the time Yubel talked him out of it. Jim gave Judai a look as if to say 'drop it for now'. Judai rolled his eyes and huffed a big sighed. He will just have to ask Johan later.

Johan smiled at Jim as if to say 'thank you'. "Oh, it was pretty good I guess. Judai did come to see me for a few weeks," Johan said this with a smile and nudged the pouting Judai. Judai could not help but smirk at Johan. "Other than that, it was pretty boring.

"Ah yeah, I hear ya mate. I joined a local tournament but that only lasted a few days. After that I spent the rest of my summer preparing to move here." Jim said leaning back a bit and looking around the arena.

Johan then looked around and notice something strange. Jim was here… but where was Karen? Jim always had Karen with him. Had he left the alligator in Australia? "Um, Jim… where is Karen?" he finally asked after looking around for the beast.

"Oh, Karen? She's up in my room," he said leaning his head in the direction of the dorms. "She does not like it, and neither do I, but she is not allowed in dueling arena. They have a strict 'no animal' policy," Jim said pouting a bit. "But it's alright. She spends the majority of the time sleeping in my room and it's really just of this class and one other. For my other courses I can take her along. She only really made a fuss on the first day but has seemed to except it," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, well that's too bad," Johan said as he shrugged too. "So, you guys are here because of the dueling program right? Well, why this school?" he asked, truly wondering why they chose to pursue their dueling career at this particular university.

"Well, I am here, of course, for the dueling but I chose this location to be closer to Asuka. She gets lonely without me," Fubuki stated in an 'I'm super important' tone.

"Wait? Asuka is here too?" Johan asked looking around the room.

"Oh my, no! Not here. She is at another university nearby. I chose this one because it was close and I was able to get a partial scholarship to help my family pay the expenses, "Fubuki nodded as he spoke.

"Yeah, I heard he applied to every university within a 3 hour radius," Judai whispered into Johan's ear.

"Oh I see," Johan whispered back. Feeling Judai's breath on his ear caused Johan to blush a bit but he shook the blush away quickly.

"Well, I'm here for that main reason, mate," Jim said, sitting up straight and pointing to himself. Everyone started at him in silence for a few seconds, Jim not realizing what he just said. He thought for a second and when it hit him, he blushed. "I-I-I meant the dueling part. Uh… Not the Asuka part… though that is more of a bonus if anything," He said the last part in a low whisper.

Johan then turned so he was fully facing Judai. "I never expected to see you, of all people, here… so why?" he asked truly curious as to why Judai would ever go back to school. 'Maybe he knew I would be here and could not be away from me,' a bit of a dazed look filled Johan's eyes as he thought this. He quickly corrected himself before the others could notice. Only Fubuki took notice but did not say anything.

"Well, I don't know…" Judai started, "I mean, I thought I did know but now I don't."

"Um, Judai that makes no sense…" Johan said looking at Judai with a confused filled stare.

Judai looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Well a while back, after arriving home from seeing you, I didn't really have any set path for myself…. And then the opportunity for coming here arrived… So instead of staying home and doing nothing, I took it," he ended his explanation with a big smile.

Johan didn't fully underhand what Judai meant but at the same time, he didn't really care. As long as Judai was here, he was happy. "Well, I am happy that you are here… It will be like old time… minus saving the world," Johan said patting Judai's shoulder and smiling. He truly was happy that Judai was here. Deep down he felt that having Judai so close, would give him a better chance at a love relationship with the boy.

"Yeah, me too," Judai said with a soft smile that caused Johan's heart to skip a beat.

Just then Professor Green came into the room. "Okay everyone, class is about to start so if you are not a part of it, please get out. The dueling facilities will open to public use once the class is over. If you are a part of the class, please gather at the center bleachers." he said sounding very official. He then turned and left the arena.

The four boys stood up and made their way to the bleachers. They found some seats together a few rows back and sat. They talked about various things while waiting for class to begin. Johan told them how he was on the water polo team, which surprised all three. Judai told Johan that he had plans to buy a motorcycle soon, he had an international license and planed on getting an official California license in the near future. Fubuki talked about Asuka and Jim spent most of the time just listening. As people started gathering around for class, Johan notice many would stop and wave to the three boys next to him. Everyone seemed to want to talk with Judai the most.

Seeing the look of confusion on Johan's face, Jim leaned over and whispered "Yeah, Judai is pretty popular with everyone. When he arrived here, he dueled some of the upper classman and beat them all and now he is pretty well respected because of it," into Johan's year.

Johan nodded his head and made and an 'oh' shape with is mouth but did not saying anything. He was not surprised to see so many people take to Judai so quickly. He had been pretty popular back at Duel Academy but never let it get to his head. It didn't seem like popularity was important to Judai, nor did he ever seem to go out of his way to achieve it, it just came naturally.

After five minutes or so Professor Green came back into the arena. He stood in front of the group of students, greeting them all and officially starting the class. The class did not seem too big. Only about 30 people were in it, most of Johan's other classes consisted of 40 to 50 students. Being an undergraduate class, it consisted of Freshman and Sophomores only. It was also open to all students at the university so that students like Johan, who did not major in dueling but enjoyed the sport, could be a part of the class. The first hour of the class was dedicated to Professor Green informing them about the rules and regulations of the arena and the class. He also talked about what was to be expected of them and how the classes grading would be calculated. He assured the worried looking students that losing a duel will not drop ones grade, as long as you show improvement. Once a month he would check everyone's dueling strategies to make sure they were improving. Every class will also have a section dedicated to a small lecture. Judai sighed when he heard this. As for homework, they were expected to duel outside of class at least three times and make three journal entries reflecting one the duels. Each entry was expected to be at least two pages long. The first half of the semester was to be dedicated to one on one dueling while the second half would include different types of dueling such as team dueling. "So, if you could all pick a partner by that time, it would be great," Professor Green stated, ending his speech. He then looked up at the clock and noted that they had about 3 hours of class time left. "Okay I would like all of you to break into three groups and separate to the three different fields. You will all take turns dueling for the next 3 hours. Those who are on the sidelines waiting for their turns, please watch the other duels and take note of their strategies," and with that the class split up. Professor Green had informed everyone that he would be in his office if anyone needed him and the TA of the class would watch over them for the majority of the remaining period.

Johan, Judai, Fubuki and Jim all made their way back to the filed that was on the far right of the arena. Johan noticed that many other students seemed to want to join their group but there was really only room for six more. 'They probably want to duel Judai,' Johan thought to himself.

After a while the class split into three even groups, each group with ten people. They were then expected to find someone within their group to partner up and duel against. Johan was about to ask Judai to duel him when a boy with blond hair and blue eyes approached Judai form behind. Before Johan could say anything the boy tapped Judai on the shoulder. "So I heard you are the best out of the entire freshman class," he said lifting an eyebrow.

Judai turned and looked at the guy. "What? Who told you that?" he asked quite confused. Judai knew he was good but he did not consider himself the best. He knew that Jim, Johan and Fubuki could hold their own in a duel.

The boy put his hand on his hip and shifted his weight a bit. "Modest aren't we?" he said sarcastically. "I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Rick I was the student with the top rankings last year and I just think we Top's should stick together," he said smugly. He then leaned to the side a bit and noticed Johan behind Judai. Rick had made it a note to memorize all the students that were part of the dueling major and he had not seen Johan around at all. "Who are you?" he asked, sounding a little disgusted.

Johan did not like the way Rick was looking and talking to him but decides it was best to be friendly. "My name is Johan," he said with a kind smile. He put his hand out for Rick to shake.

Rick scrunched up his nose and looked at Johan' s hand as if it were trash. "I have not seen you around… um…. Johan," he said, not taking Johan's hand. "You're not part of the dueling department are you?" he asked in a very condescending tone.

'What is wrong with this guy?' Johan thought to himself. "No, I'm… not…. but I do like dueling," Johan replied to Rick's question. His smile was wavering a bit he was trying to be the adult in this situation and avoid a fight. Johan could very well hold his own in a duel, or a fight, but did not want it to come to that. He was more of a lover not a fighter. Johan didn't like using duels to release anger. He tried to avoid it. He also always tried to avoid violent confrontation if he could help it.

"Well…. Johan…" Rick said Johan's name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "The middle field and the right field are for duel majors only. You will have to go to the left end of the arena, with the rest of the trash!" Rick spat, pointing to the other side of the arena. The far left field was not as well kept as the middle and right field. Many of the students around the left field seemed a little more timid then the rest.

Johan clenched his fist as anger started to boil up in his body. 'Who does this guy think he is?' he thought to himself as he tried to control his anger. He felt like punching Rick in the face for talking down about both him, and the other students in the class. He opened his mouth to retort but was cut off before he could say anything.

"Did you just call Johan trash!?" Judai asked, with a very scary look in his eyes that even startled Johan a bit. "He is not trash and neither are those other students on the other side of the field! This class is open to all students on campus and everyone is allowed to duel at whatever field that want to!" as Judai spoke his voice got deeper and deeper. His fists were clenched at his side and his eyes were on fire.

The look in Judai's eyes made Johan nervous. Deep down, he was overjoyed that Judai was standing up for him, but the look in the boy's eyes was becoming dangerous. The last time he saw Judai like this, was when that masked man stole Rainbow Dragon. "Judai!" Johan said putting his hand on Judai's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "It's okay! I'm not mad. They're just words, nothing to get upset about. Just ignore it," Johan said, hoping to calm Judai down a bit.

"Just ignore it!?" Judai said furiously as he turned to face Johan. This startled Johan causing him to step back a bit. Judai then turned back to Rick "No! No one gets away with calling MY best friend 'trash'," Judai spat. "You and me! Here and now! If I win, then you have to say sorry to both Johan, and the rest of the students you dubbed trash!" Judai said this getting up into Ricks face. "Oh! And no more segregating," He added as he stepped back.

Rick seemed to be startled by Judai's outburst but regained his cocky composure right away. "Yeah! Okay, fine," Rick spat, trying to sound tough. "And if I win, then your friend has to join the trash heap on the other end of the arena, where he belongs," he said the last part as he sneered at Johan.

Johan just looked back at Rick with no reaction. He was too preoccupied with the nice warm feeling spreading from his stomach to care about what Rick had to say. He was overjoyed that Judai was standing up for him. Normally Johan was the one that stood up for others. It was nice to have someone else stand up for him, especially when it was his crush. 'Kind of like a love story' he thought as butterflies flew through his gut. He approached Judai, putting his hand on his shoulder yet again "Judai, you… you don't have to do this…" he said with a warm smile.

Judai turned to look at Johan.. "Why wouldn't I? He called you trash!" Judai pouted. "Besides, you would do the same for me, right?" he said as his pout became a warm smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right… Thanks man," Johan said with a nod. Johan knew that Judai was going to win hands down. There was no way this Rick could beat Judai. "Good luck!" Johan said, patting Judai's shoulder one last time.

Judai winked at Johan giving him thumbs up. He then readied his duel disk and deck and made his way to the field. The two boys faced off. Judai had a very confident expression on his face while Rick had more of a cocky look to him. They readied themselves and simultaneously shouted "Duel" and the match began.

Johan took a seat in the bleachers, sitting between Jim and Fabuki. It seemed that Judai and Rick's match had caught the attention of about three fourths of the class. Many of the students had overheard the argument and had abandoned their groups to watch the intense match at hand. After a while the whole class was crowded around the far right field. Only a few students, about ten, were cheering for Rick. Johan assumed that they were his fans and friends. The rest of the class was more on Judai's side.

'Judai is fighting just for me,' Johan though as he watched the duel. He felt like a princess who was being protected by her prince. 'Oh God! What is wrong with me?' he thought as his cheeks grew red with embarrassment. At this point Johan was quite red in the face with a dopy smile.

"You okay, mate? Your face is kind of red. You sick?" Jim asked when he noticed the strange look on his friend's face.

Johan ripped his eyes away from the duel and look at Jim with wide eyes. "What? Yeah…..I'm just excited for the duel…. Judai sure is doing great," Johan said with a big toothy smile.

Jim lifted one eyebrow and studied Johan's face for a bit. "Yeah, he is defiantly teaching this bloke a lesson," Jim said deciding to ignore what he had just seen. The two boys then turned back to the match.

Rick fell to his knees with a pained shout as his life points fell to zero. "What? I lost to a freshman?! How could this be?" He shouted burying his face in his hands. The duel lasted for a full 45 minutes and ended with Judai, of course, winning. Judai did not want to admit it but Rick had been a tough opponent. There were a few times where he had been caught off guard but was able to keep his composure.

Judai walked across the field to where Rick was. "Nice duel," Judai said, reaching his hand out to help Rick up.

"Don't touch me," Rick spat as he slapped Judai's hand away. He stood up on his own, still holding onto what little dignity he had.

Judai pulled his hand back, looking a bit insulted. Rick then started to make his way to the exit. Judai reached his hand out and grabbed onto Rick's shoulder. "Hey wait! I won so you have to tell Johan and the others you are sorry," Judai said as he turned Rick around to face him.

Rick scowled at Judai, looking him over. "Like hell I would say sorry to a piece of shit like him," he spat the last few words, shooting a searing glare at Johan. Johan shot a sassy look back at Rick wanting to slap the blond haired boy in the face. Rick then turned on his heels and stormed out of the arena. A few of the boy who had been cheering for him followed suit.

"HEY!" Judai yelled after them, wanting justice to be served. He was about to follow Rick and his friends but was stopped by someone grabbing his hand. He turned to see it was Johan.

"Wow, Judai! You were amazing," Johan said squeezing Judai's hand lightly. Judai had just won against the jerk Rick and Johan would rather spend it celebrating instead of getting into another fight.

Judai smiled at Johan, deciding that he would deal with Rick later. "Thank you," he sighed as he released his anger. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried that Rick's words hurt Johan.

"What? Of course I am," Johan said with a giggle. "Sticks and stones, right!" Johan then realized that he was still holding Judai's hand tightly. Feeling a bit awkward he pulled his hand away, trying to fight the blush that wanted to overtake his face.

Judai did not take much note to Johan's actions. He then turned back to the rest of the class. "Hey, let's get back. You still need to duel someone, right," Judai said smirking at Johan. "I will cheer for you just like you did for me," he said with a playful wink.

The two headed back to the bleachers and were greeted by a very happy class. Most of the students were overjoyed to see that Rick was put in his place. Last year, Rick had been the tyrant of the class. Whenever Professor Green was out or not paying attention, Rick would push the weaker duellists around implanting rules to segregate the students who majored in dueling from those that were taking the class purely to enjoy the game. Rick had felt that the ones who were not part of the major, should not have been there in the first place.

"Wow! You were amazing Judai! I bet he is off crying somewhere!" A boy with rusty coloured hair and freckles said with a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah it's great to see that ass was finally put in his place," squeaked a short girl with dark blue hair.

All of the remaining students congratulated Judai on his win, all wanting to talk to him. After things had settled down a bit the students went back to their respective groups and carried on duelling. Half of the people in Johan's group were now gone. It was just the four boys and the girl with blue hair. Jim and Fubuki decided to duel each other while Johan dueled against the girl. Since Judai had already dueled for the day, he sat and watched his friends. Jim had won his duel against Fubuki and Johan had won against the girl. Professor Green came back for the last hour of class. Nobody, including the TA, informed him of the fight between Judai and Rick. Before they knew it, class was over. Professor Green reminded them to make sure they dueled at least three times before next class and to write a two page entry for each duel.

"This totally sucks! Why do we have to write a stupid journal?" Judai huffed as the boys made their way out of the arena.

"It important for us to reflect on our duels, mate" Jim said as they walked along. "We can see where we went wrong and how to avoid those situations next time," he said logically.

Judai rolled his eyes. He knew his friends were right. He just didn't really have the patience to write three reflections.

Johan laughed at his crush's childish behaviour. Just then Johan's stomach growled loudly causing the other three boys to look at him. After a four hour water polo practice, a four hour dueling class and a small lunch, Johan found himself feeling quite ravenous. "Hey, do you guys want to get dinner together? I'm starving," he said as he held his stomach to show how hungry he was.

"Oh, yes! Dinner sounds splendid," Fabuki said as he clapped his hand together.

"Yeah, sounds like a good plan, mate. But let me pick up Karen from my room. She will be upset if I leave her behind for dinner," Jim explained, pointing to the dorms.

The boys made their way over to the dorms. Johan and Judai waited outside while Jim and Fubuki went into the dorms to prepare themselves. The dorm building was four stories high. The top floor was single rooms while the bottom three floors were doubles and triples. Judai, Jim and Fubuki had all gotten lucky and received a sing room on the top floor. Each floor had eight rooms and a communal bathroom.

"So, you got a single room?" Johan asked as he sat next to Judai on a bench outside the building. The sun was now setting and the sky was a deep purple. There was a salty breeze in the air that came from the nearby ocean.

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet," Judai said as he looked up at the purple sky. "I don't have to worry about arguing with a roommate or about where things go and I can come and go as I please without having to worry about bothering any one." Judai then looked at Johan. "You have a roommate right? Does he duel?" he asked his friend. Of course Judai would ask if he dueled.

Johan smiled at Judai. He wished he could live in the same dorm as the boy. He wanted to be closer to Judai. "Yeah I have a roommate and I guess he used to duel for recreation but I don't think he duels too much now. He does sometimes watch the tournaments on TV with me though," he said thoughtfully. He did enjoy Bret's company. He wondered if Bret and Judai would get along. Both boys were easy going and didn't seem too picky about people as long as they were nice.

Judai stared at Johan saying nothing, obviously in heavy thought. 'Why was Johan not majoring in dueling?' was the question that was dancing around in the burnets head. With a heavy sigh Judai opened his mouth to speak. "Why? Why are you not majoring in dueling Johan? It makes no sense," he finally asked hopping to get a proper reply form his teal-haired friend.

Johan looked into Judai's eyes and was met with concern. This caused Johan to feel a bit guilty. He knew Judai would worry over this. "Well… you see…. It's sort of complicated," he finally said. Johan had found that most people would leave the subject alone if he told them that but had a feeling Judai was not going to give up so easily.

"Johan, you know you can tell me anything. We are best friends, right? If something is wrong… I want to help," Judai said, putting his hand on Johan's shoulder to show he cared. Ever since they met, Johan had always been there to support Judai and Judai wanted to return the favor. He could tell that whatever was stopping Johan from majoring in dueling was causing him pain.

Johan smiled weakly at his crush. He knew Judai was not going to give up on the subject. "Well… it's actually kind of stupid really," Johan said looking down, a bit out of shame. It was hard for him to admit that the whole reason was due to his parents. He felt weak at knowing they had such a hold over his life.

"Stupid or not, I still want to know," Judai replied firmly, trying to show Johan he had his support.

Johan twiddled his fingers in his lap a bit. "Well, you see… It had to do with my parents…" Johan finally admitted. He looked up to see Judai's reaction and was met with a wide eyed look from his friend.

"Your parents…?" was all that came out of Judai's mouth. Now that Judai reflected on it, he had never heard Johan talk about his parents. He knew they were still alive. When he had gone to visit Johan, he had not seen ether of them once. He just assumed that they were on a trip. He also recalled that back in high school; Johan never seemed to get a call or a letter from them during his stay in Japan. It had never occurred to Judai that Johan was having a family problem. He looked into Johan's eye. The boys normally confident filled bright green eyes were pools of stress, worry, rejection, pain, so many emotions that Judai had not realized his friend was harbouring. 'Has Johan been hiding this all along?' he thought as he looked deep into his friends eyes.

Johan then blinked. All the emotion that had been spilling out vanished immediately and was replaced with confidence yet again. "But you don't need to worry," Johan finally said. He didn't want to worry Judai with his stupid family problems. "Like I told you, it's just me being weak and dumb," he said with a pathetic laugh.

Judai was not ready for the conversation to end there. Seeing that look in Johan's eyes set of all sort of alarms in Judai's head. "Johan, it's not stupid-" Judai started to say but was cut off before he could finish.

"Hey, mates, you ready to go?" Jim shouted as he and Fubuki sprinted over to the two. He now had Karen on his back. She hissed as she eyed the two boys.

"Yeah, I'm starved," Johan said with a big smile and patted his stomach. He was grateful that the two had shown up. He did not want the conversation with Judai to carry on any further. This was Johan's personal problem and he did not want to drag his crush any further into it. He can handle it on his own.

Judai still stared at Johan, his eyes full of worry. Fabuki, noticing Judai was still sitting. Leaning down he said playfully "Hey! Are you ready to go? Don't want to have to leave you behind!"

Judai shook his head. He was quite worried about Johan but supposed this was something he would carry on with Johan in private. He needed time to think it over. Judai had no clue how to deal with family problems. Though his parents were often busy at work when he was a kid, they had always accepted Judai for who he was and supported him in whatever he did. He smiled at Fubuki and stood up. "Yeah, let's get going before all the food is gone!" Judai shouted as he pumped a fist into the air.

The four boys made their way to the school cafeteria. As they walked to the cafeteria, Johan remembered that his team had planned to get dinner there tonight as well. He wondered if he would run into them. He did want to introduce Judai, Jim, and Fubuki to his roommate but was worried about what Bret might do or say to them. The idea made him a bit nervous but he knew the day would come eventually. When they got to the cafeteria the boys found a table to sit at. Johan had looked around to see if he could find his team but they were nowhere to be found. The four decided to take turns in pairs getting food. Johan and Judai let the other two go first. While they sate at the table they brought up idle conversation.

"So I have been wondering this all day, Judai," Johan started. "The last time I checked, you were... How do I say this…. Not very good at English," he said lifting an eyebrow.

Judai gave him a wide confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Johan sighed deeply and thought about how to word his question. He did not want to unintentionally insult Judai. "I guess what I am saying is… I didn't know you could speak English. Back at duel academy, wasn't English one of your worst subjects…. Why are you able to speak it so well now?" he asked hoping not to sound too harsh to his dear friend.

Judai sat silently staring at Johan as he registered what the teal-hair boy said. Then it hit him. "Ooooh yeah, English," he said with a goofy grin. "I am speaking English, aren't I?" he stuck out his tongue as he said this. "Well, you know how Yubel can sometimes give me special abilities?" Judai said with a slight pause. Johan nodded. He had remembered Judai telling him something about fire balls. "Well, apparently Yubel can also give me the ability to hear, speak, write, and read almost any language," Judai said with a big dopey grin as he scratching the back of his head.

Now it was Johan's turn to stare at Judai with wide eyes. Though he knew and believed that Judai was fused with Yubel, there were times that he forgot and it would catch him by surprise. It never occurred to him that Judai's sudden grasp of the English language was due to Yubel. Judai did a good job at just seeming so normal on the outside and often Johan would simply forget that his soul was fused with a duel monster's soul. 'Does this mean I am in love with Yubel too?' Johan thought to himself, not knowing if he should be creeped out by the idea. Though it was hard at first, Johan had come to accept Yubel despite the trouble Yubel had caused everyone. Yubel was a part of Judai now and Judai cared deeply for Yubel. Judai is Johan's best and closest friend and if he accepts Yubel then Johan would too. Johan had found that since fusing without Judai, Yubel had calmed down a bit. Yubel would often help Judai think logically when things got out of hand. "So, how are things going with the two of you?" Johan asked Judai, trying not to sound too awkward.

Judai leaned back and rested his hands behind his head. "Well, good I guess. Yubel often nags me about things but other than that, things are fine," Judai sighed contently as he said this.

Johan could not help but giggle at hearing this. "Yubel nags you? About what?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Oh, you know. Little things… Like when I don't do laundry or clean up… When I eat pizza for three days in a row… When I stay up too late… Things she feels are unhealthy… It can be a real drag sometimes," he said with a childish pout.

Johan could not help but chuckle again. The thought of Yubel nagging Judai was just too funny. "Well, I am sure Yubel does it all out of care. I mean come on Judai, pizza three day in a row…?" Johan said playfully lifting his eyebrow. The two boys laughed together at the thought. Johan felt like he was in a dream. Being back with Judai was what he truly wished for. 'Someone up there must be smiling down on me,' he thought as he looked at his crush. At making eye contact his heart started to beat a bit faster and he blushed a bit. Judai did not seem to notice.

Just then Jim and Fubuki both came back with full plates of pasta. "Okay, you two are up next," Fabuki sang as he sat down. Judai and Johan both stood and made their way into the food buying area. Judai immediately ordered a burger and fries while Johan went for a grilled chicken burger with a salad. They joined their two friends and spent the rest of dinner eating and chatting about their summer and first week of school.

"Wow, Johan, your schedule sounds crazy! No wonder we never saw you around, mate," Jim said as he slurped up some pasta.

"Yeah, it's pretty tight with classes and practice but I get Saturday and Sunday off," Johan replied as he munched on his salad.

"Speaking of weekends, what are you plans tomorrow? Will you come join us for a few duels?" Fubuki asked. He was now done with his dinner and was nibbling at soft serve ice cream.

Johan definitely wanted to hang out with the other three tomorrow and get some duels in because he didn't have a chance to today. He thought for a second and an idea came to him. "Have you guys explored off campus at all?" he asked, neglecting to answer Fubuki's question.

The other three looked at each other wondering what Johan was up to. "Well, not really, mate," Jim finally replied.

"Great!" Johan shouted surprising the three. They all wondered what was so great about not exploring. "How about tomorrow you all meet me at my dorm and we can explore down town. I found some pretty neat places I want to take you," he said with more enthusiasm than he normally used. He really wanted to show Judai and the others the café that he came across. He knew that they would enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and they would be able to duel.

The three looked at each other. They were all curious as to what made Johan so excited. "Okay, why not! Exploring is always fun!" Judai finally spoke up. He knew that whatever was making Johan so excited, probably had to do with dueling. Besides, Judai was sick of dueling the people at the arena. Too many of them were uptight and worried about rankings.

"Great! Why don't we meet around noon! I have some homework I need to work on and then I should be free the rest of the weekend," Johan said. The three boys agreed to meet outside Johan's dorm at noon. Johan gave them directions to his dorm and his phone number so they could call him if they needed to.

It was only 9pm and still pretty early but Johan was beat from the day's events. He wanted to make sure he got enough sleep for the next day. He was very excited about taking them to meet Risa. The four split up for the night. As they said goodnight Johan badly wanted to give Judai a hug but felt it would be awkward. He was just so overjoyed to see his crush. 'If only…' he thought as he said goodnight to his friends.

As he walked back to his dorm, his thoughts were full of none other than Judai. Judai stood up for him today in class. Even though Johan could take care of himself, he was just so happy that Judai did that for him. Judai had also showed so much concern over his family matters. It made his heart beat furiously to think that Judai worried about him so. Even sitting and laughing with Judai at dinner was a memory that Johan wanted to hold onto forever. 'If only he knew how I really felt,' Johan thought with a sigh. At times he felt like he was lying to Judai. Judai was his friend, yet he hardboard more than 'just friend' feelings towards Judai. 'I wonder what he would think… Would he feel deceived?' Johan thought as he looked up at the bright moon. He sighed deeply, taking in the salty cool air. He was too afraid to find out. For now, he was happy with just being friends.

When he got back to his dorm room, he found that Bret was gone. 'He must still be out. Maybe they all went downtown for dinner,' Johan thought as he readied himself for bed. He climbed into bed. He looked at his clock to find that it was only 10pm. He felt like an old man for going to bed so early. Tomorrow he promised himself to stay out later with his friends. With that Johan drifted off to sleep, dreaming about a teal-haired princess being saved by a brown-haired prince.

(Yeah so this chapter ended up being longer than I expected but I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I am very excited for the next one and have some juicy plans for it so be ready! Chapter 5 will probably be up next weekend sometime. If things keep going as they have been, I will have two chapters per a weekend. My goal is to at least get one chapter out a week!

I am sorry if there are any mistakes. When I upload these onto FF it sometimes deletes things and does strange stuff. I am still learning how to use this site so bear with me please.

I am enjoying all the review so far so please keep them coming and let me know what you think! It makes me happy to see what you all have to say.

I want to thank Judaisbutt for always being my beta and reading over my stuff for me.

Everyone please take care!)


	6. Chapter 5

(So here is chapter 5. I hope you all don't hate me by the end of it! Please Enjoy)

(I don't own Yugioh GX or any of the characters.)

Chapter 5

The next day Johan woke at 8am. He found that Bret had come back sometime during the night. The boy was sound asleep in his bed barely even moving. Johan smiled at how cute his roommate could be when he was sleeping and not flirting with everything that moved. Johan rolled out of his bed and made his way to his computer. He turned it on and checked his email. He once again found no new emails form anyone. He sighed softly and closed out his email. He then pulled up a word document. For the English class he was taking they were assigned to do a five page self-introduction. Johan decided to start on this first, knowing he would be able to pump it out quickly.

About one hour later, as Johan put the finishing touches on his paper, Bret woke up. He rolled in his bed to find Johan working at his computer. "Good morning Doll Face," he yawned as he sat up.

Johan jumped a bit but turned to smile at his roommate. "Good morning Bret! Did you sleep well?" he asked with a bright smile.

"Sure did! How was that duel class of yours? Did you think of me when you won?" Bret asked as he rolled out of bed and went to his own computer.

Johan lifted an eyebrow at his roommate. "I may have thought of you I guess," Johan sighed jokingly. "The class it's self was…. Interesting," he said as he thought of the mishap with Rick. "But…" he then added at the thought of Judai and blushed a bit.

Bret noticed the blush immediately and got a bit excited. "Oh! Is there a girl you met in class? Maybe your future duel wife," Bret sang as he winked at Johan.

'Duel wife?' Johan thought as he blushed wildly. He imagined Judai in a pink frilly apron in a kitchen. This caused him to blush even more. He then imagined the food Judai would be making and felt a little sick. "I… it was…" Johan said a bit flustered. "There was just… someone that didn't really like me!" He said hoping to change the subject.

"Is someone picking on my Doll Face!?" Bret joked as if he were some guy protecting his girlfriend

Johan could not help but chuckle a bit. "No… well maybe… But Judai… he…umm," he became a bit tong-tied at the mention of his crush but regained his composure a bit. "I mean…. someone helped me out," Johan said blushing once again hopping Bret did not catch on.

Bret studied Johan silently, catching on quite well. "So…. Does this make you the duel wife?" Bret finally asked suspiciously.

Johan whole face went red instantly. 'Me? Judai's duel wife?' the question screamed itself in his head. He then had an image of himself in a pink apron cooking dinner over a stove with Judai strong arms wrapped around his waist whispering about how good the food looked. Johan almost lost it. "I….I," was all that come out of his mouth as he desperately tried to rid his mind of the daydream.

"Bingo!" Bret sang as a huge grin spread across his face. "So it's not a girl but a boy…" he said raising his eyebrows.

All Johan could do was blush. How could this be happening!? One second he was saying 'good morning' to Bret and the next Bret had found out his secret! But HOW? All he could get out was a weak "Please don't tell anyone."

Bret could see that Johan was flustered by it all. His roommate looked very vulnerable. Something Bret had never seen. "Hey, Doll Face, it's cool. I won't tell anyone," he said pausing for a second. "So… his name is Judai right… I feel like I have heard that name before…. Was he not one of your friends from Japan?" Bret asked now fully facing Johan.

Johan was still blushing furiously but not as bad as before. He did not really know what to say at this point. He knew denying it was useless. At least it was Bret who found out and not Jim or Fabuki. Fabuki would tell Judai for sure! "Yes… It turns out that a few of my friends from high school have made it into this university to duel… Judai was one of them," Johan was slowly regaining control over his voice though it was still shaky at times.

Bret smirked at how cute his roommate was being. "Well, before you start dating this boy, I am going to have to meet him. Give him the good old inspection! Make sure he is good enough for my Doll Face," he joked yet again but this time sounding like an over protective father.

Johan cheeks were now only a light pink. "You don't need to worry," Johan said looking at the floor with a sad gaze. "He will never like me that way…" he mumbled hopelessly.

Bret could not help but feel a bit sad due to the heartbroken forlorn look on his roommates face. He stood up and made his way over to Johan. He placed his hand on Johan's shoulder causing Johan to look him in the eye. "Johan! You are acting like you have already been rejected… Judai has already stood by your side in class… Who knows… He may like you back," Bret said this all in a serious tone that Johan had never expected the boy to have. This was also the first time Bret had ever called him by his actual name and not 'Doll Face'. Was Bret actually worried about him?

Johan could not help but smile weakly at his roommates words. "Funny. That's exactly what Liz said too," Johan said with a weak chuckle.

"Whaaat! Liz knows too?!" Bret joked, his serious tone gone.

"Yeah… Well sort of…. She knows I like someone…. And I think she knows it's a guy…." Johan answered.

Bret put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Well, regardless of who knows I will not allow you to give up on this love so soon. You would never just give up on a duel, even when the odds are against you right, Doll Face," Bret said as if he were a coach give a pep talk.

Johan smile at his roommate analogy. "Yeah, your right. I would not give up in the middle of a duel despite the odds," he sighed jokingly.

"Then I will not allow you to give up so quickly on love!" Bret said with determination.

Bret was right. Johan could not just toss his feelings aside. He knew that he would have to confront Judai eventually but now was not the time. He wanted to enjoy his time with the boy in case the confession scared Judai off. "Okay, I… promise I won't give up yet," he said making full eye contact with his roommate. "But you can't speak a word of this to anyone!"

"My lips are sealed Doll Face," he said pretending to zip his mouth closed and throw away the key.

Johan could not believe that his roommate had just found out about his secret love for Judai. He was grateful for having such a supportive roommate. Bret really was a good friend. Johan just hoped that Bret would not try to fix anything or get them together. Johan would also have to be even more careful for now on. He knew that one wrong word or move could set Fubuki off.

Bret then ruffled Johan's hair playfully. "Hey, turn that frown upside down. It's going to be okay, Doll Face," he sang. "How about we eat some cereal and watch some dueling. I saw a commercial yesterday for a dueling marathon for this morning and it's focusing mainly on girl duelists," he said the last part in a bit of a perverted tone causing Johan to laugh.

"Sure why not," Johan sighed at he got up, abandoning the rest of his homework to join his roommate. The two sat on the couch together eating breakfast, joking about various things and enjoying the duels on TV. At least Johan could rely on Bret to help lift his spirits.

An hour later, and two boxes of cereal less, Johan was feeling a bit brighter about his unrequited love situation. As he sat with Bret, munching on cereal and watching an old all girls duel tournament rerun, he had let the idea of confessing to Judai roll around in his head. Johan did not know how Judai felt about him. He knew Judai definitely cared for him as a friend. Was that all? Probably. In the end Johan had decided to wait things out a bit longer; get a feel for the other boys feeling before he confessed. He did not plan on giving up yet, but wanted to wait it out a little longer. As the duel on TV came to an end Johan checked the time. It read 11:00am.

"Oh shit! I have to get ready," Johan said, shooting up from the couch and almost knocking over his empty bowl.

Bret looked up at his roommate with a raised eyebrow. "Where you going in such a hurry Doll Face? It's the weekend! No class so relax," he emphasized this by resting his hands behind his head and putting his feet on the small table in between the couch and TV.

"Oh, well I'm meeting my friends and I'm going to take them over to that café by the beach," Johan said as he gathered some clean cloths and a towel.

"Oh, a date maybe?" Bret said as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

"What!? No! There are going to be four of us!" Johan replied, his cheeks a little pink. 'Damn! Why did he have to find out! I will probably not hear the end of it!' he thought as he collected the last of his cloths from his dresser.

"Oh? So it's a double date…?" Bret then asked in a taunting tone.

"BRET!" Johan said as he threw a dirty sock at his roommate in an attempt to get him to shut up.

"Ah, come on. I only kid!" Bret said with a huge grin as he put his hands up in defense causing the sock to bounce off of them and onto the floor.

Johan smirked a bit but still rolled his eyes at his roommate. He then grabbed his towel and made his way to the bathroom. He took a quick shower and readied himself for the day. After the shower he packed some dueling essentials into his backpack. By the time he was done it was 11:50am. He bid a quick goodbye to Bret and made his way down stairs to wait outside. He caught sight of his three friends in the distance as he exited his dorm.

"Good morning," Johan sang as he sprinted over to meet them.

"JOHAN!" Judai shouted as he caught sight of his best friend. He ran towards Johan in joyous leaps. The other two boys kept walking at their normal pace but smiled at the sight of their teal-haired friend.

Johan wanted to jump into Judai's arms and give him a big hug but refrained from doing so. His run turned into a jog as he got closer to Judai. Judai on the other hand decided he did not want to slow down causing him to run headfirst into Johan. They both toppled to the ground.

Not fully realizing what was going on Johan's head spun a bit as he fell down. He had expected Judai to stop before reaching him and was caught off guard. "Ouch…"Johan moaned as he lay on the ground with something heavy on top of him. He opened his eyes and focused them a bit to find that, yes, his crush was laying on him. As realization hit him, his heart started to beat faster and harder against his chest. He then desperately tried to calm himself down, in hope that Judai did not notice his heartbeat.

Judai's head was located right next to Johan's ear. "Ooooh… ouch!" Judai moaned into the teal-haired boy's ear. This simple moan caused Johan to blush madly. Judai then pulled himself up a bit so that his hands were on either side of Johan's head and his legs were startling his hips. His face hung over Johan's, only a few centimeters away. "Wooow, sorry. I guess I was just happy to see you. Are you okay?" Judai said, his breath streamed across Johan's face as he spoke.

It took every last fiber of Johan's being to not become erect in the situation he was in. His crush was startling his lower region and their faces were only centimeters away. Judai's lips looked so kissable. 'If I sat up, just a bit…' he thought but quickly wiped it from his mind. "Y-yeah…" he said still a bit flustered. He tried to play it off as being winded from the fall and not slightly turned on.

"Great!"Judai said as he sat back and stood up. He then reached his hand down to help Johan up.

Johan took Judai's hand, savoring the feel of it in his own. Judai gave a great pull, causing Johan to stand up quickly with barley any effort of his own. Johan sometimes forgot how strong Judai actually was. "Thanks… and um… I'm happy to see you too, by the way," Johan said as he dusted himself off a bit.

"Don't mention it. I would not want to hurt you before we explore together," Judai said as he patted Johan on the back, almost causing the teal-haired boy to lose his balance. Johan regained his composure quickly and smiled at his crush.

"You two okay!?" Jim shouted as he and Fubuki sprinted over to the two boys.

"Judai! You really should be more careful. We don't want random passerbyers to get the wrong idea! You were in quite the compromising pose. ," Fabuki sang in a scandalous tone.

"What?" Judai said sounding quite confused.

Johan blushed madly but fought it back just as quick. "Um… let's just go!" Johan quickly said wanting to get going before Judai started asking question about what Fabuki meant. The three boys looked at him, wondering what he rush was. "It's the weekend… so ya know… the café may fill up if we don't get there soon," Johan added quickly. The three boys seemed to take the bait.

"Yeah! I want to see this café you told us about!" Judai shouted, not really caring what Fubuki had meant by his statement.

The four boys slowly made their way down town. It was a sunny warm day and they enjoyed the weather as they walked. There was a salty sea breeze that would blow through their hair every once in a while. Johan could not help but take in deep breaths of the salty air every time the breeze picked up. After about thirty minutes of walking and talking, the boys finally came across the café.

"Here we are!" Johan said holding his hands out towards the café as if he were showing of some fancy car. The café was small and from the front it looked like any old cafe.

Johan did not know what to make of the looks on the other boys faces. They all looked surprised. Judai looked to Johan wondering if it was a joke. He had expected an extravagant café covered in duel stuff but it just looked like a normal old café. Hadn't Johan said there was a duel field? "Um…" All four boys said simultaneously not knowing what to say in case it insulted Johan.

Johan cocked his head to the side wondering what the problem was. Then it dawned on him. "Oh yeah! It looks better once you get inside," Johan said with a big grin. "And the dueling field is out the back by the beach," he added quickly.

Fabuki and Jim exchanged glances while Judai wasted no time making for the entrance. He swing open the door, excited to see what he would find. When he opened the door he was greeted by a pretty looking lady with long black hair and blue eyes. She looked to be in her late twenties. "Welcome," she said from behind the counter.

"Hello," Judai replied in a super friendly tone as the other three boys filed in behind him. Judai looked around the café. It was not too big. There were a few customers here and they chatting and eating lunch. It contained about ten two person tables and a few four person tables. The tops of the tables were decorated to look like one of those 'how to duel' mates that often come in dueling starter kits for beginners. A wave of nostalgia washed over Judai causing him to smile. He had not seen a table field like this since he was a kid. He also noticed a makeshift field out the back door for people with duel disks. There were also some tables out by the field and the ocean out past that. Johan was right, Judai did enjoy this place. It had a very calming and homey feel to it.

The lady studied Judai as the boy looked around the café. "Hello, Risa," Johan said catching her attention.

"Oh, Johan! How are you doing? How was your first week back at school?" Risa asked with a friendly smile. Johan had not visited the shop since classes started.

"My first week was great!" Johan said as he and the other three boys made their way to the counter. The other three boys were a little preoccupied with looking around the café. "How are you doing?" he asked once he got to the counter.

"Oh, same old same old I suppose," Risa giggled as she spoke. She was a very cheerful lady who almost always had a pleasant smile on her face. "And who might these fine young gentleman be?" He asked as she looked at Judai, Fubuki, and Jim.

"These are some of my friends from high school," Johan replied. Jim and Fubuki were now facing Risa with friend smiles but Judai was still preoccupied with looking around the café.

"Oh? Are they here for a visit?" Risa asked.

"No. We are students from the university, too. We met up with Johan here yesterday. I think it caught us all by surprised," Jim said as he gave Johan a small pat on the back causing Johan to grin. "The name is Jim, by the way," he said as he tilted his hat.

"Why hello there Jim, it's nice to…" Risa started to say but then paused when she caught sight of Karen on Jims back. "Oh my! Is that a…." she stammered as her normally calm expression became surprised.

Jim lifted an eyebrow a bit confused but then remembered he had Karen on his back. He was so used to carrying her around that he often forgot she was there, almost like she was a part of him. "Oh! This is Karen… She is my…" Jim thoughts as he tried to find the words to describe their relationship. "My family," he finally said with a big smile. Risa just looked from Jim to Karen, not saying a word. "She is fine! She would not hurt a fly! I promise," Jim said as he tried to reassure Risa. She did not seem too convinced.

"He is right!" Johan cut in. "Karen is well behaved and can sometimes even be friendly," he said also trying to reassure her.

It seemed to work as little. Risa's concerned expression became a bit calmer as she breathed a sigh. "Well, if you say so," she said trying to send a friendly smile to the crocodile on Jim's back.

Karen eyed Risa and let out a low hiss. This caused Risa to jump a bit. "Awww. See! She likes you already!" Jim said with a big grin.

"Oh, yes, of course," Risa said as she tried to force a smile onto her face. She then turned to Fubuki. "And who might you be?" She asked as she tried to ignore the crocodile.

Fubuki took her hand like the princes do in the Disney movies. "Oh fair maiden! What beautiful soft hands," Fabuki states as if he were reciting Shakespeare. "You may call me Fubuki," he said with a slight bow of his head.

Risa did not know what to make of Fubuki but did find him entertaining. "Well, it is nice to meet you Sir Fubuki. I do hope you enjoy your stay in my humble abode," Risa said playing along with him. Fubuki gave her a wink as he pulled back. She then turned to Judai. "And who might you be?" she asked.

Judai had been looking around the café and had spotted some duelling trophies and placards behind the counter. "Did you win all those?" he asked, neglecting to introduce himself.

Risa was confused by the question at first but then realized that Judai was referring to her awards. "Oh! Those old things? They were from back when I was young. A long time ago…" she said trailing off at the end.

"You used to duel competitively?" Judai asked in excitement. "Do you still duel now? We should duel each other!" Judai was becoming excited.

Risa giggled at his enthusiasm. "Yes, I was competitive for a while and may have won a few times. I would duel you but I have a strict rule against duelling people whose names I don't know…" she said the last part playfully.

Judai started at her with wide eyes for a second before realizing what she meant. "Oh! My name is Judai! Yuki Judai!" he said pointing to his nose with his pointer finger.

"Well, it is nice to meet you Judai. I would love to duel with you but as you can see I am the only one working today. If you are around this evening I may find some time to duel you…" she said with a pleasant grin.

Judai always loved to duel new strong opponents and despite Risa's calm outward appearance, Judai could tell that she would be a tough opponent. "You're on!" he shouted with excitement and before he could stop himself, his stomach let out a loud growl. "But maybe lunch first," Judai said as held his stomach and blushed a bit. Johan could not help but giggle at his crush's cute behaviour.

"Okay, what would you boys like?" Risa asked as she pulled out a pad of paper. The boys ordered their food and drinks and then took a number to a four person table.

The boys sat and chatted idly as they waited for their order. "So, Asuka is here studying to be a teacher right? How are the others doing?" Johan asked. He had really only kept in contact with Judai after he went back home. He would message O'Brian on occasion.

Judai sipped thoughtfully from his drink as he took in Johan's question. "Well, Rei and Kenzan are still at Duel Academy. It's their last year there. As for Manjoume, Sho and Kaizer, I think they are preparing to join the regional duel tournament. If they get high enough ranking in the regional, then they can move up to the national tournament." Judai said as he tried to remember.

"Oh I see. Do you think they have a chance? Were they able to find sponsors to help them pay the entrance fee? I heard it was expensive!" Johan asked as he munched on his sandwich.

"Of course Ryo was able to get a sponsor right off the bat," Fubuki cut in. "And he will make it to nationals for sure. But from what Ryo told me, Sho was not so lucky. I think Sho's parents were going to help him pay as a birthday gift or something. If he does well at regionals, maybe he will catch the attention of a sponsor," he said as he picked at his fries.

"Oh that's too bad. Sho is such a sensitive little guy. He has always been living in his big brothers shadow, right? I hope he is not taking it too hard," Jim said looking a bit worried.

"Ah, he will be fine. At first he was upset but he is pretty much over it now," Judai said as he flopped his hand in the air in front of him. "He said something about doing well and beating his brother," he added to his point.

"What about Manjoume? Does he have a sponsor?" Johan asked. He had been curious about whether the others were able to attract sponsors. It was a known fact that as duelling became more popular as a career, good sponsors are becoming harder and harder to find and the fees for the pro leagues coasted an arm and a leg. It was one of the reasons Johan had not been able to just run off and join the league. But as time passed, Johan was a little glad he was not a part of the league. He was not too keen on the idea of being on TV and sponsors can be strict and invasive. He remembered the way Manjoume's original sponsors had tried to turn him into a joke and it pissed Johan off. He knew that there were other ways to enjoy the life of a duelist without having to join a league.

"I don't really know if he did or didn't. Either way, his family is loaded," Judai answered with a shrug.

The boys carried on chatting about life as they ate. Once they were done they took turns dueling each other outside. The commotion of their duels caught the attention of the children who were at the beach to play. They had an audience of about 10 elementary and middle school aged kids drooling over their duels and some of the children's parents. Johan always enjoyed having the children around. When he was not dueling, he would take time to talk with them about the game and how to better their deck, in hopes to bring the children closer to the sport. Fubuki also took time to talk and joke with the kids. Many of the children thought that Jim's missing eye was cool. They also enjoyed playing with Karen's tail, though the parents did not seem too happy. Judai also had a good time with the kids. The more rambunctious kids would climb on his back and wrestle with Judai when he was not dueling. They also did some small mock duels with the children, many of the younger ones dueled for the first time. As time passed the children slowly started to go home with their parent and before they knew it, it was just the four of them again.

The sun was now starting to set over the ocean. The boys had spent the whole afternoon at the café. Fubuki and Jim had gone back into the café to buy some juice for everyone, leaving Johan and Judai alone. "Wow, who would have thought that dueling with children could be so much fun," Judai sighed contently as he sat down and sprawled his upper body over the table so that his hands hung down on the other side.

"Yeah, they sure were cute. Reminded me of when I first started dueling," Johan said as he took the seat across from Judai. Johan looked out over the ocean. The sun was setting over it causing the water to have a yellow-orange glow to it. 'This sure is romantic,' he thought, wishing he was on a real date with his crush. Johan started to space out as he looked out over the sea.

"Hey! You doing anything tomorrow? We should hangout again!" Judai said as he sat up. "I really missed you once I left your house. It's so nice to have you back by my side," he said smiling at Johan.

Johan felt his cheeks go red as his heart rate increased. A fuzzy feeling started to spread from his heart to the rest of his body. 'He missed me that much?' Johan thought with joy, half hopping this was going to turn into a confession. "Yeah, I missed you too," he finally said, hopping Judai did not notice his blush.

"Yeah… Jim and Fubuki are fun but no one can ever replace a best friend, right?" Judai said as he rested his arms behind his head and looked at Johan.

The words 'best friend' hung heavy in Johan's ears, making his heart fall a bit. 'Of course that's what he meant. Why would he like me in any other way?' he thought feeling a bit disappointed. "Yeah, it sure is hard to be away from a 'best friend'" Johan replied truly wanting to replace those two words with 'lover'. The two sat silently for a moment, Judai enjoying the relaxing sea breeze and Johan secretly enjoying Judai's presence.

After a minute or so Jim and Fubuki came back with both drink and Risa. "Hey. You two enjoying this romantic atmosphere," Fubuki joked as he set the cups of juice down on the table. Johan tried not to seem bothered by the statement.

"What romantic atmosphere? You meant the sunset? Why do so many people find sunsets so romantic," Judai said as he sat up straight in his seat.

"Oh! You are quite the charmer Judai," Jim said causing everyone but Judai to laugh.

"Anyways, the shop is closed up if you are still looking to duel me Judai," Risa said, walking to where Judai was.

"What really!? I am totally down for it," Judai replied as he sprung from his seat and almost knocked the drinks off the table. Johan and Jim were able to save them before they fell.

Judai then sprinted to the field on the beach and readied his duel disk. Risa giggled at the sight of his enthusiasm. "My, he is quite the excitable one, isn't he?" She commented as she made her way to the opposite side of the field as Judai. "Are you ready Judai! Don't think I am going to go easy on you because you are a customer!" She shouted as she readied her duel disk and deck.

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Judai replied with a determined look on his face. Risa's demeanour had changed the second she had put on the duel disk. She went from a quite kind lady to a worrier and it pumped Judai's veins with excitement. The two readied themselves and simultaneously shouted "Duel!" to start the match. The three boys on the side lines were also pumped with excitement as they watched the duel take off.

Johan focused most of his attention on Judai. Recently, one of Johan's favourite things to do was watch Judai duel. It was one of the reasons Johan had fallen for Judai so hard. Johan had never met someone so passionate towards dueling. When Johan first met Judai and discovered his passion he felt an instant friendship with the boy but after a while that feeling of friendship slowly shifted to a feeling of love. Now, as he sat watching Judai duel, with the sun setting over the ocean as the backdrop, he could not help but release a content sigh.

The duel was intense and many times nobody could tell who was going to win but in the end Risa was the winner. "I looost?!" Judai whined dramatically as he fell to the ground with a playful pout on his face. He was surprised by how strong Risa was, but he should have known, since she had won so many awards from tournaments.

Risa walked to where Judai was and smiled down at him. "Well Judai, you were more of a challenge than I thought. I normally don't have this much trouble dueling the university freshman, though Johan was a challenge too" she said as she reached her hand down to help Judai up.

Judai smiled and took her hand. "What? You dueled Johan too? Who won?" Judai asked as she helped him up.

"She did of course!" Johan said as he walked over to the two. "Risa is a tough opponent, right? But I guess it is to be expected from someone who used to duel pro…" he said smiling at Risa.

"Oh, well I would not say I am that good. You two could very well beat me if the circumstances were right," Risa said shyly due to the complement. "Well, I must be on my way. I need to get home to make dinner," she said as she took her duel disk off. "Please feel free to come by the café and duel any time. You guys picked up a lot of business for me with your dueling. Many people ordered drinks to drink while they watched you duel, so please do feel free to come back" she said as she made her way back to the table and situated her luggage. She then wished the four 'goodbye' and went back into the cafe to lock up.

"What time is it?" Fubuki asked as he got up from his seat and stretched.

"It's almost six," Jim replied as he too stood up.

The four boys sat in silence for a few seconds waiting for someone to say something. The silence lasted an almost awkwardly long time but was cut off by a loud 'giirrrrrrr'. Everyone turned their attention to Judai who was holding his growling stomach. "How about dinner?" He asked with a sheepish smile.

The other three boys laughed at their friend, not too surprised by the situation. "I could definitely go for some food, mate," Jim said, giving Judai a pat on the back.

"Oh yeah, dinner sounds perfect! Do you know of any nice places to eat at?" Fabuki asked Johan.

"Oh, well a little further into town there is a street full of restaurants and cafes. Let's go there and see what we find," Johan suggested, pointing out the direction of the place he was referring to.

After a bit of walking around the shopping area of downtown, they came across a small seafood restaurant. They all ended up ordering the house's extremely creamy clam chowder soup in a sourdough bread bowl. The soup was rich and creamy and warmed the boy's bellies. "Where has this BEEN all my life?" Judai exclaimed as he wolfed down the soup.

"Umm, hiding from you," Jim replied in a slightly sarcastic tone. He too enjoyed the soup quite immensely but ate with a bit more dignity. Judai pouted at Jim as the other two boys laughed.

Dinner ended at about 8pm and the boys decided to head back to the school. Johan was not ready to split up with his friends so he decided to go back to Judai's room and hang out for a bit before heading back to his own room. They spent the majority of the night relaxing, watching TV, and talking about duel strategies as they munched on snacks. Johan had missed just hanging out with Judai and doing nothing. In Johan's opinion Judai was the best person to do nothing with. At around midnight Johan decided to head back to his room. He had made plans to come back the next day and hang out in the afternoon once he was done with all his homework.

Fubuki and Jim had gone back to their rooms and Judai had decided to walk Johan half way to his dorm. Johan looked up at the stars as he walked alongside Judai. The two boys were silent, enjoying each other's company and the quiet cool night. Every few minutes one or the other would make a comment about something that happened in the day. As they got closer to the quad, where they planned to split up, Johan started to remember the events from this morning with Bret. Bret's words rolled around in his ears are he walked. Johan had kept telling himself that he was fine with just being friends with Judai but deep down he knew that he wanted to confess. Somewhere deep in his heart, Johan felt like he had a chance. It was a small and warm hope and would often get covered by doubt but would always come back after a while. Johan looked over at Judai. Judai was looking at the sky as he walked. Johan could not help but admire the reflection of the moon in Judais deep brown eyes and his silky two toned brow hair. Nor was he able to ignore Judai's sun kissed skin as it glowed in the moon's rays. Johan could feel butterflies gather in his stomach as his cheeks glowed a soft pink. He so badly wanted to reach out and touch the boy beside him.

"It sure is a clear night," Judai commented as he looked from the sky to Johan. He noticed that Johan had a strange look on his face. "Are you feeling okay? Your cheeks look a bit red?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.

Johan was caught off guard and try as he might, he could not get rid of the pink in his cheeks. "I-I'm fine! I am just tired!" he quickly said, looking at anything but Judai. His heart was beating madly against his chest. 'I wonder if he can hear it!' Johan thought irrationally.

Judai stopped causing Johan to stop too. "You know, something has been off all day ever since we met. You tend to space out often. Are you sure you are okay?" Judai said as he reached out and ran his hand from Johan's forehead to his cheek.

Johan jumped back immediately at the feel of Judai's hand on his face. His hand was stronger and rougher then Johan had expected but still pleasant. "Yeah! I promise. I-I just need sleep," Johan stammered at he tried to collect himself.

Judai raised his eyebrow as he looked Johan over. There was something wrong with his friend. But what? 'Maybe something happened with his parents?' Judai thought with concern. "Remember you can tell me anything…" Judai said in hope to get it out of the boy.

No matter how hard he tried, Johan could not fight back the butterflies in his stomach nor the blush from his cheeks. He looked up and was met by Judai's concern look. 'Maybe… I should just tell him… He would not hate me… I'm sure of it,' Johan thought as he tried to work up the courage to tell his crush the truth. "Well, Judai… You see… The truth is…" Johan glanced at the ground and then back at Judai as he tried to find the right words. "It's just that I…. I think my allergies are acting up! That's all!" he lied. He just could not tell Judai the truth. Not yet. Now was not the time. Judai would probably just push him down and run. All Johan could do was smile weakly at his crush and hope he took the bait.

"You have allergies?" Judai asked as he looked Johan up and down. "Since when?"

"Well, they just started getting bad this morning… Something must be in bloom… and I kind of forgot to take my allergy medication too," Johan said adding to the lie.

Judai give him another suspicious look but nodded his head. "If you say so… But if I find out you are lying, I won't be too happy," Judai said in a serious tone. He worried about Johan and didn't like the idea of the boy hiding things form him.

Johan and Judai sat there in awkward silence for a few seconds. All Johan could do was smile weakly at Judai and try to fight back his feeling for the boy. "Well, it's probably almost one so… um… I'll see you tomorrow," Johan finally said breaking the silence.

Judai give Johan a crooked smile. Though he was concerned for his friend he did not want them to separate feeling too awkward. "Yeah, well send me a text when you are heading over and I can meet you outside. Maybe we can all go to the beach or something," Judai suggested.

"Yeah that sounds great…. Well um, goodnight," Johan said as he tried to stay calm.

"Goodnight," Judai replied in a soft tone.

The two boys lingered for only a second, just taking the other in. Judai was full of hidden worry while Johan was full of feelings he was trying to fight back. They then both nodded to each other and went their own ways. Johan desperately tried to calm himself down as he walked away from his crush. He knew he had to be more careful about admiring Judai! 'Why is it so hard to control my feelings!?' he thought to himself desperately.

Judai glanced over his shoulder as he walked to get one more look at his best friend. He wondered what could be wrong with him. Was it really just allergies, or something else? He sighed as he turned back around and made his way back to his dorm.

(Okay! So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There was meant to be more but it was getting too long. The next chapter should be up in a few days I hope, maybe by Monday. I am extremely excited about the next chapter and have wanted to write it for a while now. I hope you all decide to keep reading. I really do enjoy everyone's comments. They all make me so happy, so thank you. Also I may be upping this fic to M but I am not too sure for now. Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying the story so far and enjoy the rest of it as well! Please take care!)

(Thank you Judaisbutt for being my beta.)


	7. Chapter 6

(Here it is! Chapter 6! Sorry it took so long to get out! Things just got behind. Please enjoy!)

(I do not own Yugioh or Yugioh GX or any of the characters or the game… and stuff!)

Chapter 6

The next month and a half passed by quickly and before Johan knew it, it was already the end of October. After the mishap with Judai almost calling him out, Johan had been able to get his feelings under control. Though it took much effort, he had been able to restrain himself from staring and spacing out when around the boy. He mostly always daydreamed about Judai during class and occasionally during meals when Judai was not around. Having a tight schedule, Johan was only able to see Judai, Fubuki and Jim on Friday and during the weekends. He often spent every second he could on the weekends with the three boys. They would often go to the café or the beach and duel each other for fun. They would spend the evenings hanging out and Judai would always walk Johan half way back to his dorm. Johan spent most of the weekday with his roommate and occasionally with Liz. He would also sometimes eat dinner with his teammates after practice. He also had taken to going to the library to study and do homework during the week. Johan had found that Bret could be quite the distraction whenever Johan tried to do homework or study. Johan enjoyed the library quite a bit. It was quiet and he could be alone. He was able to do as he wished, like think about his crush, without having to worry about people noticing his strange behavior. On occasion, when he was able to come across a corner with nobody else around, he could chat with the gem beasts. So in all, before Johan knew it, the first month and a half of school had already elapsed and in a few days it would be November.

At the moment, Johan was sitting in the dining commons eating dinner with Bret and Liz and Liz's roommate Jasmine. It was a Wednesday night and Bret and Johan had just got off from practice. They had decided to eat with Liz and Jasmine to have a change of pace.

"So, this weekend is going to be Halloween. Do you dudes have any fun plans?" Liz asked as she leaned over the table.

"Why, yes I do," Bret stated sounding very important. "I will be heading home for the weekend. My parent always put on a big block party and they want me to join. I figured I could meet up with some of my old high school friends as well," he explained as he took a sip of his soda. He then turned to Johan. "Sorry to leave you alone Doll Face! If you want, you are always welcome to join me!" he said with a wink.

"No, that's okay. I would not want to distract you from your friends," Johan said though his real reason was that he was hoping to spend the weekend with Judai.

"Well the volleyball team is planning to put on, like, a horror movie night but it's going to be girls only!" Liz piped in with a nod. She then turned to her roommate "You are welcome to join me Jaz if you, like, want to but these two jokers are not allowed!" she stated, pointing at Johan and Bret.

Jasmine sat next to Liz and across from Johan. Johan had met her his second week of school. Though Jasmine was not in any sport, there had been a mix up and she had been placed into the sports dorm. Her tentative major was drama so she should have been put in the dorms closer to the art building. She was a short girl with dark blue hair. Her eyes were a grey color but would change to a light blue depending on what she wore. She had a calm demeanor and was often very sarcastic. She was almost always civil to Johan but seemed to get easily annoyed with Bret. "Oh, I might... The drama department may be having a gathering of sorts that I may also try to attend," Jasmine said in a dull tone. She often acted uninterested in everything.

Liz pouted at her roommate's reply but shrugged it off. She then turned her attention to Johan. "So, like, if you are not going home with Bret, what do you plan to do for Halloween?" She asked looking a little too excited. She too had called Johan out on his crush back during the first week of school. She had eventually pried it out of Johan that his crush was at school. Being the snoop she was, she always tried to get details out of Johan but almost always failed.

Johan rolled his eyes, knowing where this conversation was going. "Oh, I don't know… I may just meet some friends and hang out," he said, trying not to be too specific.

"Oh? And who will you be hanging with?" Liz asked, her voice raising a bit too high at the end.

"You know, the same people I always hang out with when I am not around you guys," Johan replied as he sunk into his chair a bit. He didn't really like it when his crush on Judai was brought up in conversation.

"Oh well-" Liz started to say but was cut off by Jasmine.

"Oh would you give it a REST!" Jasmine spat in an annoyed tone, causing the people sitting around them to glance over. "All you ever do is heckle him about his crush! He obviously is uncomfortable, so leave it alone!" she hissed at her roommate. Jasmine felt a bit bad for Johan. He was always being pressured by both Bret and Liz about his crush.

The two boys at the table gave Jasmine a surprised look while Liz had a guilty expression. "Sorry," Liz said looking down in shame. She was just so excited at the idea of Johan and his crush getting together.

"It's okay," Johan said smiling and sitting up straight. He knew that her way of showing she cared was by prying into his love life.

The four sat in awkward silence. "So… I can pick up my old deck and duel disk while I am home," Bret said as he nudged Johan in the side. "How about it? When I get back you can show me what you're made of."

Johan smiled at his roommate's silly behavior. "Sound good but you have to promises you won't cry when you lose," he joked as he nudged Bret with his elbow.

"What! Me? Cry? Never!" Bret said as he lifted his hands in the air.

Johan was about to comment on it but hear his name being called from across the room by a very familiar voice. "Johan! It is you!" Johan turned to see that the voice was coming from Judai.

Johan's eye widened in both surprise and joy but then he remembered who he was with. "Hey! Who is that? You know him?" Bret whispered into Johan's ear.

Judai sprinted over to where Johan was. "Johan!" Judai shouted when he got to the table.

Johan felt butterflies bubble up in his stomach. He was overjoyed to see his crush but at the same time he feared what his other friends might say. "Hello, Judai," Johan said trying to sound as natural and casual as he could. The other three residents at the table all looked at Judai with eyes that said 'so that's Judai'. Johan glances over at them before returning his attention to Judai. "So, what bring you here Judai?" Johan asked not wanting to leave too much of a silence.

"Oh, well Fubuki, Jim and I just finished up dinner! I can't believe I didn't notice you," Judai said, his voice full of disappointment. Johan also felt a bit disappointed. Judai then looked at the three people sitting with Johan. "Are these your friends?" he asked with a bit more pep in his tone.

"Yeah, they are. The person next to-" but Johan was cut off as Bret swinging his arm around Johan's neck and pulling him close. For some reason this action did not settle well with Judai.

"The name is Brendon Suave. My mom calls me Sweet Pea, my fans call me The Swag King, but you can call me Bret!" he said winking at Judai and tightening his hold on the struggling Johan. "Doll Face and I are roommates," he said this as he playfully rubbed his cheek against Johan's. Judai's smile wavered a bit at seeing this action.

Johan felt his whole body fill with embarrassment. He knew something like this was going to happen. "Bret, stop!" he huffed under his roommates hold.

Bret then released Johan causing the boy to flop forward onto the table. "We are also teammate on the water polo team," Bret added as he gave Johan a hearty pat on the back.

Judai wasn't sure how he felt about this Bret. Something about him just didn't settle right with Judai, but what? Judai shook off the feeling and smiled brightly once again. "Well, it is nice to finally meet you, Bret," Judai said, now back to his normal self.

It was Liz's turn to pip in next. "My name is Liz and this is, like, Jasmine my roommate," Liz said pointing to herself and her roommate. "We, like, live on the same floor as these two jokers," she said looking playfully at the two boys across from her. "It's nice to, like, finally meet you Judai. Johan has told us so much about you!" she said this emphasizing the 'so' in the sentence. It was true. Though Johan did not notice, he mentioned Judai at least once a day.

Judai looked over at Johan. "You talked about me that much?" he asked with wide eyes. He was a bit touched to think that Johan thought about him so often.

"Well, you are my best friend…" Johan said with a sheepish smile. He glanced over at Liz who smiled innocently at him.

"Yeah, I guess I think about you a lot, too," Judai replied, not meaning too much by it. The five sat in awkward silence. Johan was too worried about what anyone was going to say causing his mouth to go dry.

"So, are you doing anything this weekend?" Liz asked Judai. She rested her chin in her hands as she looked at him.

"Umm…. No, not really. Why?" Judai replied

"Well, it is Halloween on Saturday and poor Johan is going to be all alone. We would not want him to be eaten by a monster," Bret cut in using an overly dramatic tone.

Judai just started at Bret confused while Johan hid his face in his hands. Liz was giggling uncontrollably. "Sorry, he is a little deranged," Jasmine said referring to Bret and rolling her eyes.

Judai sat there for a second processing what was being said and then it finally clicked. "Well, why don't you just come over to my place then? I wouldn't want you to be eaten by anything during Halloween," Judai joked as he poked Johan.

"Yeah, why don't you!" Bret added as he poked Johan as well. For some reason Judai did not like it when this Bret touched Johan but he quickly wiped the thought from his mind.

Johan felt his cheeks go red, wishing he could just fall into a hole! "Yeah! S-sounds great!" he finally said smiling at Judai.

"Great!" Judai shouted as he grinned widely at his teal-haired friend. "Maybe we can hit downtown in the afternoon and then spend the evening watching monster movies at my place!" Judai said with his voice full of excitement.

"Yeah, can't wait!" Johan replied, meaning every word.

"Well, I better jet back to my room! I still need to get a paper done. Yubel gets upset when I slack off too much. It can be a real drag!" Judai said pouting a little.

Johan felt a bit disappointed that Judai was leaving so soon but nodded his head. "Well, I will see you on Friday then!" Johan said. Judai bid goodbye to Johan and his friends and took off to his dorm. Johan could not help but watch Judai until he was out of sight.

"Awww, how cute! An actual date!" Liz exclaimed causing Johan turn back with wide eyes.

"What! It's not a date. Judai and I always hang out together and it has never been a date!" Johan said shaking his head violently as his cheeks turned pink.

"I don't know…. Seems like a date to me" Liz teased. "But Judai is pretty cute! I can see why you like him! You two would look perfect together," Liz said as she winked.

"Yeah and he has a tight ass," Bret added causing Jasmine to roll her eyes yet again.

Johan's whole face went red as he hid it in his hands for the second time that night. "Why were you looking at his ass!?" Johan mumbled into his hands.

"What? I look at all asses. Don't worry Doll Face, he has a nice ass, but yours will always be my favorite," Bret joked as he patted Johan's back.

"Bret!" Johan wined as he glared daggers at his roommate. He knew Bret meant well but he really could only stand so much taunting when it came to Judai.

"For Christ sakes you two, leave the poor guy alone!" Jasmine finally said casing the subject of Johan's 'date' to end. She seemed to be the only one who ever stood up for poor Johan. Johan gave Jasmine a thankful look from across the table.

There was an awkward silence at the table as the four tried to find something new to talk about. "Soooo…" Bret was the first to speak. "Our first water polo game is coming up soon. In just about two weeks I think… You two ladies going to come and watch?" He asked lifting an eyebrow. Though Bret was a master at making situations awkward, but he was just as good at changing the subject and acting as if the awkward situation never happened. It was his charm point.

The four spent the rest of dinner chatting about the water polo game that would be coming up next month. It was not an important game or anything. The freshman and some sophomores played on the junior team against other junior teams in the area. It was a way to ready them for when they joined the varsity team. They could hone their skills and show the coach that they really did deserve a spot on the varsity team. Many of the boys were aiming to become the coveted team captain but Johan did not really care about the title as long as he got to keep his scholarship. Johan wondered if he should invite Judai to the game as well. It would be Johan's first one as a university student. Johan wondered if Judai would even enjoy watching a water polo match. If Judai did come to see him play, Judai would be able to see Johan almost naked. This thought caused Johan to become a bit inwardly flustered.

The next few days flew by quickly as Johan excitedly awaited the arrival of the weekend. His water polo practices were getting harder and harder every day with the anticipation of their first match against another team. Johan was often left exhausted after practice, barely able to get his homework done let alone socialize. Classes went by quickly as well. Once November rolled around he would have to start to think about finals. He had done pretty well on his midterms but he did not want to slip up and have his grades drop. If he had low grades he could not stay on the water polo team and then would lose his scholarship.

In the end, the week flew by and before he knew it, it was already Friday. Duel class had just ended and Johan, Judai, Jim and Fubuki were all at the Dining Commons for some dinner. "Oooooh you two are party poopers! You should join Jim and I to go see Asuka!" Fubuki wined to the two boys sitting across from him.

"Come on Fubuki, you know Asuka's dorm cannot hold ALL four of us," Jim said logically.

"Yeah, and from her DuleBook photos I would say she is not lonely at all," Johan added.

"I bet you're the one who planned this whole thing in the first place without even really asking her how she felt," Judai said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, can you blame me," Fubuki retorted, his eyes big and sad. "She is my baby sister. I can't bear the thought that she is all alone in another country," he fake sobbed as he spoke.

Johan laughed at his friend as Jim and Judai rolled their eyes. Fubuki often talked about his fear of Asuka being on her own. The three other boys often had to remind him that Asuka is a very capable mature girl who needs her space. Almost every weekend he suggested that they paid her a visit but the three knew that that would only hinder the girl in the end. She needed to acquaint herself at her new school on her own without the disturbance of an over doting older brother. Despite the fact that they all advised Fubuki to leave her alone for Halloween they could not talk him out of it. In the end Jim had decided to tag along to make sure Fubuki didn't overstay his welcome, and to see Asuka. He also owned a car that he could drive them in.

"So, what time will you two leave tomorrow," Johan asked the two boys across from him.

"Why leave tomorrow when we can leave tonight," Fubuki said a little too happily.

"We will leave early tomorrow morning!" Jim stated as he bopped Fubuki on the head. Fubuki gave Jim a sad pout but didn't retort.

"So, what time do you want to meet up Judai? I don't have too much homework this weekend so I can meet any time," Johan asked his crush as he took big gulps of soda.

"How about…. Around ten? We can go downtown and then in the evening come back to my place and watch MONSTER MOVIES," Judai replied, the last two words he growled in a monster like voice and pretended to be scary.

Johan laughed at his crush's antics causing him to choke on his drink which made soda fly out of his nose. He then coughed uncontrollably as the other boy across the table laughed at both Judai's monster impression and Johan squirting soda out of his nose. Despite the burning pain in his sinuses and the overwhelming embarrassment, Johan also laughed as he coughed. "J-Jud-ai!" he stuttered as he tried to collect himself.

"Wow, Johan that was awesome! You need to teach me how to shoot things out of my nose!" Judai exclaimed as he made sure his teal-haired friend was not going to die.

"Judai, try not to kill Johan while we are away," Jim joked.

The four boys spent the rest of the night talking about various things and after dinner Johan headed back to his room. Fukubi and Jim had to get up early so they did not want to be up too late and Johan also wanted to make sure he got enough sleep so that he could be ready for his day with Judai. Since coming to school Johan had always hung out with Judai, Fubuki and Jim as a group but never really hung out with Judai one on one, not counting walking home. This would be the first time that Johan and Judai would be hanging out alone since summer. Johan just hoped he didn't do anything stupid.

The next morning Johan woke to the sound of Bret preparing to leave for the weekend. He moaned as he rolled over to check the time. It was only 8:00am. He had set his alarm for 8:30 am but decided he would get up now and get an early start.

"Good morning Doll Face. You know, you are very cute when you sleep," Bret said in his usual morning greeting to Johan.

Johan had become accustomed to the way Bret talks about him. "Good morning Bret," he replied in a groggy voice as he stretched out his arms and yawned. "You leaving soon?" He asked as he tried to prompt himself to fully wake up.

"Yeah I am heading out in a few. Are you sure you are going to be okay without me?" Bret asked with a wink causing Johan to shoot him a playful glare. Bret smirked at him and then turned back to his packing. After a few minutes he was all packed up. "Well Doll Face, try not to miss me too much and have fun on your date," he said singing the last word.

Johans face went pink as he tossed a dirty sock at his roommate. "It's not a date!" Johan snapped. Bret giggled and shot out the door before the sock could hit him.

Once Bret was gone, Johan pulled himself out of bed mumbling about how his meeting with Judai was not a date to himself. He then proceeded to get ready for the day. At 10:00am he made his way down stairs to meet Judai. To his surprise, Judai was in the lobby waiting. He was lazily spread across the lobby couch watching some cartoon with some guy as he waited for Johan. It seemed that Judai did not notice Johan's presence so Johan took this chance to play a fun trick. He snuck up behind Judai and in one quick motion he clasped his hand over Judai's eyes. This caused Judai to sit up and shout "BWHA!"

Johan signaled to the startled man on the couch next to Judai to keep quiet. "Guess WHOOOO!?" Johan then asked in the deepest voice he could.

At first Judai was confused as to who it was. Did he know someone with a deep voice like this? Then he noticed a very familiar smell. It was a sweet comforting smell that reminded him of being bundled up on a cold winter day with a cup of spiced hot chocolate. He knew it oh too well. "Who could it be? Ruby maybe?" Judai replied trying not to giggle too much.

Johan looked down at Judai a bit surprised from what the boy said but not moving his hands. He then looked over at the guy on the couch who shrugged. "Um… Wrong!" he said in a deep voice that caused his voice to crack a little. He was now leaning over the couch so that his face was hanging over Judai's.

Judai pretended to think hard. "It's couldn't possibly be Johan could it? He normally talks in a high girl voice, not a low manly voice," Judai said mocking the way Johan speaks. This caused the guy on the couch to chuckle and Johan to pout.

Johan leaned closer to Judai as he scowled down at the boy. "What did you say about me?!" he said tightening his hold on Judai.

This caused Judai to flail around on the couch trying to get away. "Ouch OUCH! Did I say girly!? I meant totally manly," he shouted at he tried to pry Johan's hand off. Judai, being stronger then Johan, was able to pull Johan's hand away from his face. When he opened his eyes he we met by a bright green glare.

"Who has a girly voice?" Johan snapped playfully at Judai as he leaned over the boy.

Judai craned his head back as he looked up at Johan. "It's a very pretty voice. I like it," he said with a sheepish smile.

'P-pretty?' Johan thought as his cheeks went a bright pink. He pulled back to hid his embarrassment. The guy on the couch smirked at the two then turned his attention back to the TV. "Are you ready to go?" Johan asked with his back to Judai.

Judai lifted an eyebrow at his friend's strange behavior but shook it off. "Yeah! Let's get rolling before it gets late," Judai said as he jumped up.

Johan took a deep breath and collected himself. Once he was back to normal, he turned to Judai. "Then let's get rolling," Johan said with a big grin.

The two boys headed out. They spent the morning and afternoon at Risa's café. There was a Halloween event going on, targeting mainly children, which Johan and Judai volunteered to help Risa with. Judai was made to dress as a Hane-Kuriboh. He wore a giant Hane-Kuriboh suit that covered all of him except for his head, his fore arms and went down to his knees. He looked like a giant, brown, fuzzy basketball with wings. Johan was made to wear a Ruby inspired costume. He wore a headband with Ruby ears and fuzzy purple footie pajamas with big paws for the hand and feet and a big tail. Both boys found their costumes hard to walk in. They spent the majority of the day handing out candy to the children. They also tried to attract customers to the shop by standing outside with signs. Judai did not seem too embarrassed by it all. He mostly seemed to enjoy himself. Johan was unsure at first but relaxed after a while.

At around 5pm the shop closed and the two boys were exhausted from spending the majority of the day trying to entertain children. They had changed out of their costumes and were sitting at a table taking a rest before they went home. Johan had forgotten about the Ruby ears and was still wearing them. At the moment he was resting his head on his arms with his eyes closed. "I am so beat," he said with a relaxing sigh.

"Yeah, but it was fun to see all the kids get into dueling," Judai said with a satisfied smile. He rested his chin on his hands and looked over at Johan. He had to admit that Johan looked really cute with the Ruby ears on. "Those suit you well you know," he commented.

Johan lifted his head and looked at Judai with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?" He asked as he tilted his head, the ears flopping around as he moved.

"You make the cutest little Ruby I have ever seen," Judai said with a big grin as he pointed to his own head as a hint to Johan.

Johan tilted his head even more as he processed what his crush was referring to casing one of the ears to flop over his eye. He then jumped realizing he still had the headband on. "Ah! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Johan exclaimed as he took the ears off his head and blushed a bit.

Judai chuckled at his friend savoring his cute behavior. "Awww, come on, they suited you well," he said as he winked at Johan.

'Is he flirting with me?' Johan thought as he looked away. He felt excitement boil up in the pit of his stomach.

Judai studied his teal-haired friend as he leaned back in his chair. "So, what should we do for dinner? Go out… eat at school…" Judai asked as he thought.

Johan turned back to fully face Judai. "Well, if you want, and if your dorm has a kitchen, we could always make dinner," Johan suggested. Johan had picked up many cooking tips from his mother. He had cooked for Judai back at Duel Academy a few times.

"What!? Really!?" Judai said shooting up from his chair and startling Johan. "I love your cooking! It's been so long! Would you really cook for me!?" as Judai spoke he leaned over the table getting closer and closer to Johan.

'He… likes my cooking….' Johan thought as joy spread through his body. It almost felt as if everything around him had gone fuzzy and pink as Judai's words sunk in. "Yeah…. Sure," he replied in a dreamy tone. He imagined himself yet again cooking and Judai wrapping his arms around his waist and commenting on the food.

Due to his excitement, Judai did not seem to take notice of Johan's state. "GREAT!" he exclaimed as he shot his hands into the air. "Let's get going then! I am starved," Judai said as he grabbed Johan's arm to pull him up.

Johan snapped out of his dreamy state instantaneously. "Uh yeah, right, me too!" he said as he got up and shook himself back to reality.

The two boys wished Risa a goodbye and headed to a grocery store. They bought ingredients to make seafood pasta. It was one of the first dishes Johan's mother ever taught him how to cook so he had it down to a tee. Johan also knew that Judai quite liked seafood. Once they got back to Judai's dorm they organized a bit and went to the dorm's shared kitchen. Johan had Judai help him prepare the fish cleaning them and taking the shells off the shrimp but did not allow Judai around any of knifes. Last time they cooked together they spent half the time bandaging up Judai's hands. Johan mixed the ingredients into the tomato sauce and set it to a low simmer. It would simmer for a few minutes before they added the seafood. He then set a big pot of water on the stove to start boiling it.

"Okay it should all be done in about 30 minutes," Johan stated as he patted his hands on his light blue apron. "I think I will cut up the bread. Do you want it plain or should I make garlic toast?" he asked turning to Judai who was sitting at a table as he watched Johan cook. Judai had run out of things to do and Johan would not allow him around anything 'dangerous'.

"Garlic toast!" Judai exclaimed.

"Garlic toast it is then," Johan chuckled. Johan went over to the table Judai was sitting at with the bread, a knife and a cutting board. He set them down and went to work. He was taking his time cutting the bread making sure each slice was perfect. "Judai can you do me a favored," he said as he set the first slice of bread on a baking pan.

"Sure. What do you need," Judai replied.

"Do you mind giving the sauce a quick stir so it won't burn," Johan said as he placed the knife delicately on the bread to prepare the next slice.

"Sure thing!" Judai said as he sprung up from the table. As he turned to walk over to the stove his foot caught on the table's leg causing him to trip and the table to violently shake. Judai was able to catch himself before hitting the ground.

As Judai tripped, Johan started to cut into the bread but due to the sudden movement of the table, the knife in Johan's right hand slipped and missed the bread, cutting deep into his left hand instead. "Ah!" Johan exclaimed as he dropped the knife and grabbed his cut left hand with his uncut right hand. He could tell by the pain that it was not a shallow cute. He hissed a bit as he held his hand.

Judai immediately ran over to Johan's side, forgetting about the sauce all together. "Johan! Are you okay!? What happened?" he exclaimed in a bit of a panicked tone. He looked at Johan to see that the boys hand was bleeding. The blood seemed to be pouring out of his dear friend's hand. "J-Johan!" Judai stuttered as he grabbed Johan's hand to examine it. Judai looked to see that Johan's left hand had a deep cut located between his index finger and thumb. "Johan!" he said again as he tried to remember what he was taught in his one day first aid class he took back in high school

"It's nothing really!" Johan said as he pulled his hand back to put pressure on the cut.

Judai then grabbed Johan by the wrist of his right hand and took him over to the skink. He turned on the faucet and put Johan's hand under the running water. "Wait here, I will be back. Yubel had me buy a first aid kit," Judai said as he turned and ran off to his room.

"Judai…the sauce!" Johan said as he watched his friend leave. While waiting for Judai, Johan had turned all the burners off, so as to not start a fire as well.

When Judai got back he made Johan sit back down at a table and hold a cloth over the cut while he prepared the items from the first aid kit. Judai felt guilt run through his body as he watched his best friend hold his injured hand. "Johan," he said looking up at Johan with apologetic eyes. "I…I'm… Sorry" Judai said looking down at the table.

Using his uninjured hand Johan lifted Judai's head so that they made eye contact. He almost melted at the look of sorrow in his crushes soft brown eyes. "Judai, don't worry! It was an accident," Johan said trying to reassure his crush that all was well.

Judai weakly smiled at Johan. Despite the fact that his soul was fused with Yubel and he hand awesome powers, he still had his clumsy moments. For some reason, the idea of hurting Johan brought such pain to Judai's heart. "Here, give me your hand," Judai said putting his own hand out to take Johan's injured hand. Johan complied and moved his left hand so that it was in Judai's. Reading from a 'how to' sheet in the first aid kit, Judai started to dress Johan's wound. He unraveled the cloth it was in and examined it. It was still bleeding quite a bit and it caused Judai to worry. "It looks pretty deep. I hope it doesn't need stitches," Judai commented as he prepared disinfectant to put on the cut.

"I am sure it won't come to that. It will be fine," Johan replied. Despite the fact that his had had a huge cut in it, Johan was savoring every last second of the attention he was receiving from Judai. He rarely ever held hands with Judai for this long and he liked it. Johan was surprised at how strong yet gentle Judai's hands were as they worked on his cut. They were warm, powerful and rough but at the same time gentle and caring. They made Johan feel safe and secure. He wished this could go on forever. Before he knew it, his hand had been all bandaged up causing Johan to feel a little disappointed. He looked down at his left hand and was surprised at the good job Judai had done on the bandaging.

Judai smiled weakly at his friend. "I… I really am sorry Johan!" he said with a pathetic sigh.

Johan smiled and ruffled Judai's hair. He could not stand seeing such a sad look on his crush's face. "Hey, it was an accident and I don't blame you. It was partially my fault for cutting the bread at the table and not the counter in the first place," Johan said in a reassuring tone. "Now, how about we finish cooking and eat up. I'm starving!" Johan exclaimed as he patted his stomach with his right hand.

Judai smiled at Johan, some of his spunk returning to him. "Yeah, but let me help you. I would not want the bandaging to come undone," Judai said as he got up from the table.

The two boys worked together to finish the meal and before they knew it, they were eating a wonderful seafood pasta dinner. Johan felt joy rush though his body as he watched his crush eat the food they had made together.

"Wow, that was wonderful!" Judai exclaimed as he swallowed his last bite of food.

"Yes! It was great! And we made it together. You are a better cook than I expected," Johan said he took another bite of his dinner. He was a slower eater then Judai and still had about a fourth of his meal left.

"What? All I really did was pour the water out of the pot and stir the sauce a few times. You did all the work even though you are…. hurt," Judai looked down as he said the last word. He still felt so guilty about the whole knife incident.

"Judai! I told you not to worry about it! It wasn't your fault, it's just an accident," Johan said in a stern voice. Judai smiled and nodded at Johan but didn't say anything.

Once Johan finished eating he started to collect the plates form the table with his good hand and take them to the sink. "Wait! You can't wash the dishes! Not with that mangled hand! Let me do it!" Judai said this all in a very serious tone as he swiped the dishes from Johan's hand and turned on the sink. "Besides, you did all the cooking so the least I could do it the cleaning," Judai added.

Johan was stunned. Judai never volunteered to clean, even when Johan had done all the cooking. 'Is he really that worried about me…,' Johan thought as joy once again spread through his body. "Alright, then let me dry," Johan suggested. He did not feel comfortable just watching Judai clean.

"Are you sure you are going to be okay?" Judai asked full of concern as he looked Johan in the eyes.

Johan tried to fight the blush in his cheeks. "Judai! It's just a cut. It's not like I chopped my whole hand off," Johan joked as he picked up a cloth to dry the dishes.

"What if that did happened!?" Judai asked horrified.

Johan giggled and rolled his eyes. "Just get cleaning," Johan said as he playfully shoved Judai.

The two boys worked together and cleaned everything up. It took them about twenty minutes and by the time they were done, it was almost 9pm. They moved to Judai's room after and set up to watch the monster movies. They had been able to rent three old black and white horror films from the library. Johan had never heard of any of them and from the look of the box, they looked more like comedy than horror. They put the first movie into Judai's DVD player and set themselves up on Judai's bed. The TV was located at the foot of Judai's bed. The two lay next to each other on their bellies with their heads at the foot of the bed. They both used pillows to help prop their upper bodies up. Being so close to Judai on a bed made Johan a little nervous.

The first movie they watched was about some giant experiment that went wrong and attacked a town. The special effects, costumes and acting were not very good so the two boys spent a fair amount of time laughing. The second movie was just about the same production wise but was about some monster in a mountain village. By the end of the second movie their snacks had run out and Johan was feeling a little sleepy. He had planned to head back to his room after the third movie.

"It's getting late, do you still want to watch the last one?" Judai asked as he looked over at his tired friend.

Despite the fact that it was almost midnight, Johan was not ready to leave Judai. "What are you talking about? The night is still young and I said I would watch ALL three movies with you. Bring it on!" Johan said as he tried to fight off his exhaustion.

"Yeah bring it!" Judai said as he tossed in the last DVD.

The movie was a bit different from the others. It was a story where a group of people getting stranded on an island and were being picked off, one by one. Halfway through the movie Johan felt his eyes get heavy and his head started to fall. The fuzzy feeling of sleep was overtaking him and he was at its mercy. Before he knew what was happening, he was sound asleep next to his crush.

"Well I didn't expect that, did you?" Judai asked as the ending credits started to roll on the screen. Not getting an answer he turned to look at Johan and found that his friend was sound asleep. Judai's eyes softened as he looked over his sleeping friend. 'Should I wake him up? Nah, he looks too peaceful and my bed is big enough for the both of us… He kind of reminds me of a kitten,' Judai thought to himself as he patted Johan's head a bit. He then got up and turned off the DVD player and movie. He changed into more comfortable clothes, turned out the lights and slipped back into bed next to Johan. Recently, Judai always had trouble getting to sleep but for some reason tonight he fell asleep right away.

Johan woke the next morning feeling very warm and comfortable. He had not slept this well in ages. He was greeted with an earthy comforting smell that always seemed to relax him. Was he finally used to his university bed? He sighed happily as he tried to roll over in his bed to check the time but found that he could not move. He then realized that he was being held by something? But what? Had Bret mistakenly crawled into bed with him last night… No, Bret was in San Francisco. Johan thought hard as he tried to think what had happened but then noticed the nice familiar smell once again. Yes, he knew this smell well. It belonged to his crush! Johan's eyes shot open and he was greeted by the neck and chest of his crush. Judai had his arms wrapped securely around Johan, causing Johan's head to tuck nicely under Judai's chin. It was almost like two matching puzzle pieces. He then remembered that he had been watching movies with Judai. 'We must have fallen asleep,' Johan thought as he unconsciously cuddled closer to Judai a bit, nuzzling his strong neck. Johan body and mind filled with a mix of many emotions. He felt overjoyed, like he was in a dream that was too good to be true but at the same time he felt flustered and panicked. He wanted to get up and run away but also wanted to stay like this forever. 'Should I just go back to sleep? But what will Judai think when he wakes up?' Johan thought to himself. He knew he could not go back to sleep, not in this situation.

Just then Judai moved a bit causing Johan to stiffen and hold his breath. Judai's hold on Johan loosened as he rolled onto his back giving Johan the chance to slip out of his grip. 'What should I do?' Johan thought as he sat up in bed and looked down at his crush. Judai looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. Johan admired his long eyelashes and his soft cheeks. He relished Judai's radiant sun kissed skin and his soft brown hair. His eyes then shot to Judai's lips. They were partially open allowing air to enter and exit as he slept. Johan had always thought that Judai's lips looked quite kissable. Were they soft? Were they rough? Were they wet or dry? He wanted to know badly. Without thinking and having no control over his actions, Johan slowly leaned down, closed his eyes and placed his own lips on Judai's. He ran his tongue along Judai's lower lip before partially sticking it into Judai's mouth, savoring every last second. A rush of heat flooded Johan's body as he kissed his crush. Judai's lips were soft but strong. Judai's mouth had a savory flavor to it that made Johan want to deepen the kiss. He badly wanted to stick his tongue deeper into Judai's mouth so that he could taste more of Judai.

All at once Johan's senses came to him as his eyes shot open and he pulled away from his crush, a small line of spit connected their two lips. He quickly wiped the spit from his lips as he leaned over Judai, stunted and scared due to his own actions. 'Did I really just do that?... Did I _really_ just do _that_?!' He thought as he tried to control the panic that was swelling up in his body. He stared at Judai until he was sure the boy was not going to wake up and yell at him. He then sprung off the bed and grabbed his bag trying to make as little sound as he could to not wake his crush. He then slowly back away to the door, his eyes wide and never leaving Judai. When he got to the door he shot out and slammed the door loudly behind him. He cringed as he heard the door slam but did not stop incase Judai woke up. He took the stairs down and ran out of the building as fast as he could. The sun was out but there were not many people about but he really didn't care. 'How could I have done that?' He thought as he ran. 'Judai trusts me and I broke it! I took advantage of him while he was asleep．How could I? I'm such a bad friend! What if he finds out!' all this ran through Johan's head as he sprinted away.

When he got to his dorm building he ran in, almost knocking down a guy and his girlfriend. He mumbled an apology over his shoulder to them and took the elevator to his floor. In the elevator he tried to calm his nerves down as he assessed the situation. 'The door slamming probably woke him up. He will probably wonder where I am' Johan thought as his mind calmed slightly. 'I should tell him I forgot about something' Johan thought as he nodded his head to himself. When he got to his floor he gathered his nerves the best he could and tried his best to act normal as he walked to his room. Once in his room he flopped down on his bed and tried his best not to cry. It was going to be okay. Judai has no clue that he had kissed him. Nobody had seen the act… or so Johan thought…

(So here is chapter 6! Sorry it took so long to get out. It was a few days later than I expected but I hope you all enjoyed it! I had been planning this chapter out since I first decided to write this story. I really wanted to have Johan sneak a kiss from Judai. I just find it cute I guess. I hope you did too. I wonder what Johan will do next…? Does Judai know…? Anyways, the next chapter should be out soon. It is about half done now so no worries! It will be out soon and there will be cake! That is not a lie!

I want to thank everyone again for following this story and for all the nice reviews. I just love to read them and see what you guys think. So please let me know your thoughts thus far.

Well this is all I really have to say for now. Take care everyone.

Thank you to Judaisbutt for being my beta!)


	8. Chapter 7

(So here is Chapter 7. Please enjoy!

I don't own Yugioh GX or any characters from the game/manga/game.)

Chapter 7

Judai found himself at a party. What was he doing at a party? He could not really remember. He soon discovered that at the party there were hundreds of cakes. Everyone at the party had to choose a cake to eat but none of them seemed appealing to Judai. As he walked along the rows of cakes, he finally came across a cake that took his breath away. It was a beautiful white cake with teal frosting all over it. It was decorated with sugar gems of many different colors. He ran to the cake and took a big slice. It was beautiful. His mouth watered as he looked at it. The cake was perfect. The sponge part of the cake was white and fluffy and the frosting was soft and moist. It smelt so sweet. With his fork in hand, he took a big chunk out of the cake and shoved it into his mouth. He almost melted at its glorious flavor! Never in his life had he ever tasted anything so good. The sponge part of the cake was soft in his mouth while the frosting was just the right amount of sweetness, he could also detect a slight hint of spice in the cake. Was it cinnamon? He didn't really care. All he wanted was another mouthful of the wonderful cake but when he looked down at his plate, the cake was gone. He looked over at the table where the whole cake had once been, to find that it was gone too. He looked around the room full of cakes and could not find the white cake with teal frosting anyways. He so badly wanted to taste it one more time. It was the best thing he had ever experienced in his life. Judai ran in a panic as he looked around for his dear teal cake.

All of a sudden there was a loud 'BAM' as Judai's door slammed shut. His eyes shot open as he took in a deep breath. 'What?' he thought as he rubbed his face with his hand. 'It was just a dream?' he thought as he licked his lips to find that the sweet taste of the teal cake still seemed to linger on his lips. He savored the taste before he thought 'Wait? How can the flavor be on my lips if it was just a dream… I must still be half asleep.' Judai looked around the room noticing he was laying the wrong way on the bed. Then he remembered last night. Johan had fallen asleep in bed and Judai had decided to let him sleep. He looked around his room to see that there was no Johan. Judai felt a bit disappointed. Where had his friend gone? He had expected that they would have breakfast together.

"Well HE left in a hurry," came a dull voice from within Judai.

"You're awake? Good morning Yubel," Judai said as he lay back down in bed. She would often greet him in the mornings and nag him about things. It was annoying at times but Judai knew she did it out of love.

"Judai, you know I don't really ever sleep," Yubel said in a dry tone.

"Do you know why Johan left? Was he the one who shut my door?" Judai asked as he looked around his room lazily.

Yubel knew very well why Johan left. She had seen the whole thing. She had seen him kiss her dear Judai on the lips while he was asleep. Who does that teal haired boy think he is. 'Just when I was starting to like you too…' Yubel thought to herself as she sneered a bit. In all truth she really did not mind Johan. He was pretty much the only friend out of Judai's friends who accepted her despite all the nasty things she did to him. She rather liked him when he was not getting lovey eyed over her Judai. Yubel had changed since fusing with Judai's sole. She did not mind the boy getting close to others and becoming friends but a lover! She did not know if she was ready for that. A friend only takes up a few hours of Judai's attention but a lover would take up much more time than that. She didn't know if she was ready for that! Though deep down she knew that if she could pick someone for Judai to be with forever, it would probably be Johan. She would never admit it but when she had possessed Johan's body, she had spent quite a bit of time admiring the reflection. Despite the fact that she really did not mind Johan, she was not so sure she wanted to tell Judai about the kiss. It could wait. It was obvious that Johan did not want Judai to know. Why should she be the one to kindle their love? If they are meant to be then it will happen on its own without her help. " Yes, he was the one who shut your door! And no, I have no clue why he left in such a hurry. Maybe he forgot about something," she finally said to Judai in a very stern tone.

Why would Johan leave without saying goodbye? Could he still be upset about his hurt hand? Maybe he wasn't okay and was upset at Judai for injuring his hand. It didn't occur to Judai before but an injured hand can make dueling hard. A strange feeling settled in the pit of Judai's stomach. Was he worried that Johan would not want to be his friend anymore? Johan would never cut their friendship because of an accident, would he? Judai had never worried over a friendship like this before. He knew that if it had been anyone else he would just wait it out and not worry but he felt so nervous now. What should he do?

Just then Judai's cell phone vibrated, telling him that he got a new message. A wave of relief swept over Judai as he saw that the message was from Johan. It read 'Sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye. I have something to do.' Judai wondered what it was Johan had to do. He was pretty sure that Johan had said he was free all weekend. Worry still hung heavy in Judai's stomach but he ignored it. He could not become paranoid over something like this. He had to trust that Johan was still his friend and that worrying over his sudden absence was silly. Judai rolled back over in bed to try to sleep again with the hopes of having another dream with the teal cake in it.

XXX

Johan sighed as he pushed the 'send' button on his phone and dropped it onto his desk. His heart was still pounding against his chest. He could not believe that he had kissed Judai while Judai was sleeping. 'I can't be trusted alone around him! Who knows what I could do next,' Johan thought dramatically as he rubbed his face. He was on his bed lying on his back trying to get it together. He replayed the kiss in his mind. Judai's lips had been strong and warm but his skin had a smoothness to them that made Johan melt. They were not too wet but not too dry, just right in Johan's opinion. The best part was the taste of the kiss. It was a savory taste that had a bit of a spicy kick to it that heated Johan's body. Who could have thought Judai could kiss so well in his sleep. 'I wonder what it would be like if he were awake and actually kissing back…' Johan thought as his face went bright red. 'NO NO NO! What I did was wrong and if Judai ever found out, I could kiss any sort of relationship, whether it be lover or friend, goodbye!' Johan mind shouted as he wiped all thoughts of a chance with Judai away. His heart felt sad and heavy in his chest.

"You okay," came a familiar voice that caught Johan by surprise. It was Amethyst Cat. Johan sat up to see that all the gem beasts were sitting around his room with comforting concerned looks on their faces.

'Oh good lord, they saw didn't they,' Johan though as embarrassment took over.

"So how was it? I bet it was nice…." Topaz Tiger said with a wink that caused Johan to blush even more. Topaz Tiger had never really been good at analyzing situations and would often speak and act before thinking

"Topaz Tiger that is quite enough. Your comments are not helping the situation what so ever!" Amethyst Cat snapped.

"Whaaaat? I was only trying to help! I mean come on, he just shared a kiss with his crush," Topaz Tiger replied in a defensive tone.

"Well if you ask me-"Amethyst Cat was about to retort but was cut off.

"THAT IS ENOUGH YOU TWO," Amber Mammoth shouted as he stomped his foot, though it didn't really make much of a sound. "Now is not the time for your quarrelling," he added with a nod of his big head.

Ruby hopped onto the bed and curled up into Johan's lap as a way to comfort him. Johan smiled down softly at her and stroked her head. He could not tell if she could really feel his touch but she always seemed to enjoy it when he stroked her. He then turned to the rest of his 'family'. "What I did was really bad," he said with a sad smile.

"Johan, it was not that bad! People sneak kisses from others all the time," Cobalt Eagle said as comforting as he could be. He was never really good with this comforting stuff. He normally left this kind of stuff to Sapphire Pegasus or Amethyst Cat.

"No, it's not okay. He trusts me and I…." Johan said as he tried to fight back his overwhelming despair. "I feel like I deceived him. If he knew… he would…" Johan could not think of what to say. He didn't even want to know what Judai would do if he found out that Johan had kissed him.

"If he knew he would feel like the luckiest boy alive," Amethyst Cat said with a nod. "You are the finest young man I know! Anyone, man or woman, would be lucky to receive a kiss form you. If Judai cannot see this, then he is a fool," she poke in a very motherly tone that caused a small smile upon Johan's face.

"Johan," it was now Sapphire Pegasus's time to speak. "I know it's hard but one day you are going to have to tell Judai the truth. You can't hide it forever. Like you said, he trusts you. He will forgive you. I know it. Now, you don't have to tell him right away but you will eventually," he spoke in a stern but caring tone.

"And remember, we will always be here for you no matter what," Amethyst Cat added.

Johan smiled weakly at his 'family'. "Thank You!" he whispered, feeling so grateful to have them. How could he ever get by without their support? Even if he lost Judai, Johan knew that the gem beasts would never leave his side and he was grateful for that.

"I always found that a good nap always cleared my mind," Emerald Turtle said in an old wheezy voice. Often in duels he seemed so alert but outside of duels he acted quite ancient.

"Yes, maybe getting some rest will help clear your mind," Amethyst Catt added. "If you need us, you know where to find us," she said as they all disappeared, all except Ruby who chose to stay on Johan's lap.

"Rubi~," she squeaked as she looked up at him.

Though Johan had just woken up no more than 20 minutes ago, he felt very drained. "Maybe a nap will help settle my nerves and clear my mind," Johan said with a sigh.

Ruby then turned her attention to the bandage on Johan's hand and gave is a worried nuzzle with her nose and looked back up at him. "Rubiii!" she mewed in a concerned squeak.

Johan knew that he should probably change the bandage but could not bother doing it at that moment. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing really," he said as he scooped Ruby up and laid down in bed. Ruby curled up in Johan's arms and nuzzled his chest with her head. 'I will change the bandage after I nap a bit,' he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Johan slept most of the day away with Ruby snoozing beside him. One of her favorite pastimes was napping with Johan. At around 4pm Johan had been woken up by Bret's return. Bret had been very surprised to find that Johan was not out with his crush. He could tell that something was wrong with his dear roommate but chose to say nothing for the time being.

Johan felt emotionally drained. Once Bret was done unpacking they ordered a pizza and ate in. They watched various television shows and around ten o'clock Johan decided he would get to sleep. In the end he had decided to act as if the kiss never happened. He knew that he could not ignore it forever but for now he could. Judai didn't know so what was the point of telling him. Johan lay in bed and looked out the window up at the moon. He remembered the night Judai had walked him home during their first week here and the way the moon made Judai's sun kissed skin glow. A small smiled spread across Johan's face as he remembered the beauty of his crush, wishing so bad for their relationship to be more than just friends.

The next day Johan woke early and went to class. He locked away his feelings as best he could so that no one would worry. When Liz saw his hand she made a point to heckle him until he promised to get it look at by the on campus doctor. Despite the fact that it had been way over 24 hours since the injury took place, it still bled a bit when the bandage was taken off. After his last class he went to the health center and to his dismay the doctor gave him three stitches and told him not to lift anything heavy or to get it too wet for the next week. This did not settle well with Johan. In just two weeks he would be playing his first water polo game and this means he will have to spend one of those two weeks out of the pool. The Doctor also instructed him that dueling with a duel disk was out of the question. Duel disks were far too heavy and all of the movement could tear the stitches. Johan groaned with exasperation. She had informed him that she would send an email to both his Coach and Professor Green informing them about Johan's injury. She seemed to be able to tell that Johan would try dueling regardless of what he was told. The Doctor told him to come back next Monday for a follow up.

Johan had predicted right. He is one of the better freshmen on the team and Coach was quite upset over Johan not being able to swim for a week. Coach knew it was an accident but had Johan make up the missed training by running and doing other various rigorous exercises. The hard exercising distracted Johan from his love troubles. By the end of the day he was often too tired to think much.

He also did a relatively good job at keep up with his classes despite all the turmoil he had gone through in the past few days. He spent a few hours every day at the library studying. In the library he was able to get away from his worries. He knew that Judai nor Bret would ever think of going to the library so it was somewhat of a heaven for him. He could do his work in peace with little to no distractions.

"So, our water polo match is coming up. Less than a week and a half…" Bret said as he sat across from Johan at the dinning commons. It was Thursday night and they had decided to get dinner alone instead of going out with the team.

"Yeah, I guess so," Johan said as he munched on his meal. He had not been able to get into the pool for practice so he was not as pumped as the rest of the team. He knew that he would have to practice twice as hard next week to catch up.

"Liz and Jasmine are going to come and watch the game I think. Are you going to invite anyone else? Like maybe a certain brown haired duelist…" Bret said with a wink.

"What? Invite Judai!? He knows nothing about water polo! Why would he want to come?" Johan said trying to act as normal and nonchalant as he could.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe he would enjoy cheering you on. I bet if you asked him, he would say yes…" Bret said as he drew out the 'e' in the word 'yes'.

"No, he probably wouldn't. He would say no for sure," Johan said with a fake laugh.

"What? Why would he say 'no'. You guys are such good friends… Unless…Something happened between you two…" Bret said giving Johan a suspicious look.

"What! Why would you think something happened," Johan said trying to sound as normal as possible as he subconsciously put his hand to his lips. He then realized what he was doing and took his hand down in hopes that Bret did not notice.

It was too late. Bret noticed. "Oh my…Did you two kiss?" Bret asked with excited wide eyes

"What!? Yes! I mean NO! N-no… Not really," Johan said in a panic as he tried to think of a way to change the subject.

"Not really, huh? How do you not really kiss someone?" Bret asked with a lifted eyebrow. He looked over at Johan but did not get a response. "Come on Doll Face, you know you can tell me. Let it out. Don't keep it bottled in. Maybe I can give you some advice," Bret said as comforting as he could, though it came out sounding a bit fake.

Johan knew that Bret really did care about his wellbeing. Maybe he could confide in his roommate. "Well…" Johan started to say as he tried to look for the right words. " It's more like… I may have… Kissed him while he was sleeping," Johan said as he quickly mumbled the last few words

Bret could not help but grin. "Doll Face, you dog. Stealing a kiss form your price while he slept!? Was it nice?" Bret asked as he playfully nudged Johan's arm.

Yes it was a nice kiss. The best kiss Johan had ever experienced, not that he ever really experienced many kisses in his life. He was too flustered to answer Bret's questions.

Bret pulled back and calmed down a bit. "Does he know? What will you do next?" Bret then asked in a much calmer tone.

"Well, No! I don't think he knows… and I don't plan on telling him anytime soon. I… Just plan to act as if nothing happened" Johan said as he tried to look anywhere but at Bret.

Bret leaned back in his chair and lifted an eyebrow. "Well then why not invite him to the game. He may get suspicious if you don't. You can invite those other two friends of yours as well," Bret suggested.

Bret did have a point. If not for the kiss Johan probably would have invited his friend to the game. If they found out that he didn't tell them, they would probably be a bit upset. "Yeah, I guess I will tell them about it tomorrow," Johan finally said after thinking about it for a bit.

"Good, good. He will say yes for sure. I mean, who wouldn't want to see you half naked, Doll Face," Bret said with a playfully wink and caused Johan to blush and hit him. The two boys quickly finished their meals and headed back to their dorm room for the night.

XXX

Johan had just finished up some homework and was making his way over to his duelling class. He had decided to invite Jim, Fubuki and Judai to the next weekend. He had felt a bit nervous about talking with Judai today but knew he had nothing to fear. Judai had no clue about the kiss. If Johan shied away from Judai then Judai would take notice and start to question him. Johan had to try and act as if everything was okay. 'Because it IS okay,' Johan reassured himself as he got to the building.

Johan pushed open the door to the duel building. Johan really felt like dueling today. He hoped that the email form the school doctor did not get through to Professor Green. He had brought his duel disk just in case the email did not go through. When he got to the door to the arena he pushed it open and stepped in. He looked around the room until he located his three friends. They were sitting in the bleachers at the center field a few rows up the bleachers. Johan smiled and waved as he made his way over to them.

Preoccupied with making silly faces at his friends as he walked over, Johan did not notice that Rick and his posy were sitting a few rows ahead of Judai and the others. Despite the fact that Judai was the one to defeat Rick, Rick took it out mainly on Johan. He still referred to him as trash and refused to share a field with the teal-haired boy. Rick's behaviour pissed Johan off to no end but Johan knew he had to be the better man by ignoring it. As Johan came closer, Rick nudged his friends with his elbow, whispered something and pointed to the teal-haired boy. The boys around Rick all laughed and nodded as they looked at Johan.

Johan smiled as he made his way up the bleachers waving his hands wildly at his crush and two friends. "Hey guys!" Johan shouted as he was about to pass Rick and his gang. "Long time no seeeeeee-AH!" Johan's foot caught on something and he fell face first onto the steps. Though he was caught off guard, he was able to stop himself form falling onto his injured hand. "Outch…" He moaned as a dull pain ran though his body.

"Johan!" Judai shouted as he got up and ran down the steps to aid his best friend. Jim and Fubuki followed after. "Johan! Are you okay?" Judai asked as he bent down to help Johan.

"Yeah… I must have tripped over the step or something," Johan replied as he pulled himself up slowly. His knees and elbow hurt badly but were not broken. 'That's going to bruise for sure,' he thought as he rubbed his arms.

Rick and his gang were howling with laughter. "Hahaha, what a loser! Can't even walk up some steps without falling!" Rick spat as he sneered at Johan.

Johan, Judai, Fubuki and Jim all looked at Rick knowing that Johan had not tripped over nothing. Judai felt a flash of anger shoot through his body. 'How dare he hurt my Johan,' he thought as he clenched his fists. "You!" was all Judai could say due to his range.

Johan pulled himself up with the help of Judai and the others. He shot a glare at Rick and his friends but tried to calm his nerves. Rick wanted him to get upset and bothered and Johan was not going to let him have it, though he really did want to punch Rick in the face. "It's fine guys! Just ignore them," Johan said turning away from Rick and his friends to show that he didn't care.

"Yeah run away you little bitch. It's good that you know where your place it!" Rick spat.

Johan might have been able to brush it off but Judai couldn't! He swung around and faced Rick with fire in his eyes. "What did you say?" Judai hissed.

"J-Judai…?" Johan said nervously.

Rick stepped back in fear but tied to not let it how. "I-I-I said th-at trash sh-should know where it b-belongs," Rick said trying to sounds confident but failing. Rick had come to fear Judai ever since he lost to him.

"Judai, let's not make a scene," Johan whispered to his crush in hopes to calm him down.

Judai ignored Johan completely. "You are always talking down about Johan but everyone here KNOWS that he is better then you!" Judai spat at Rick. "If you think he is such a lousy duelist, then why are you so scared to duel him…?" he asked as his brown eyes challenged Rick. Everyone in the class knew that Johan was a suburb duelist with a legendary deck. Once the students had found out that he was 'THE' Johan Anderson they had warmed up to him quickly, all except Rick and his gang.

"Judai…" Johan whispered as he blushed a bit. He was touched by what his crush said. Johan had also wondered why Rick would always talk down about him but never challenged him to a duel. Rick had made it a point to humiliate all the other students he dubbed 'trash' by beating them in a duel but always seemed to avoid dueling Johan. Was he scared? 'Probably,' Johan thought to himself. He then turned to Rick. "Yeah, why do you keep avoiding a duel with me? Scared maybe…?" he asked with a small smirk, his bright green eyes matched Judai's brow glare as he looked at Rick.

Rick scowled at Johan. "N-no! Why would I be scared of a piece of shit?!" he spat as he tried to sound confident. "I just don't want to dirty myself!" he added with malice in his voice.

Johan lifted an eyebrow and smirked a bit, not feeling threatened what so ever. "Then how about we duel here and now!" Johan challenged in a clam voice. He had forgotten completely about his injured hand.

"Yeah, not too scared are you…?" Judai added.

Rick scrunched up his nose and scowled at the two boys in front of him. "F-fine! I'm not scared! Let's duel here and now! And if I win then you will drop the class and never show your face-" but Rick was not able to finish.

"Can everyone please take their seats? Class will begin now," Professor Green shouted as he entered the arena causing everyone to go quiet and look in his direction. "Mr. Anderson, Mr. Yuki, please take a seat," he said sternly.

Johan and Judai shot one last glare at Rick who seemed to look relieved. They would have to finish this later. Judai led Johan back to where he had been sitting before. They took their seat as the class started. Professor Green gave a lecture on tag dueling and strategies. He had also lectured them about some of the best tag duelist teams. "Now we have about three hours left before class is over. I would like all of you to get into pairs and try some tag dueling. No worries, these pairs are not permanent yet. Today is just a day for those of you who are not too familiar with this form of dueling to practice and for those who have experience with it please help your classmates," with that he clapped his hands and let the class make their teams.

"Johan…" Judai said as he poked Johan playfully in the side.

"Judai…!" Johan relpied as he returned with gesture.

"Partner?" Judai asked with a big cheese grin.

"Of course," Johan said returning the grin. He had been anticipating tag dueling. He really wanted to team up with his crush and have some fun.

"Mr. Anderson! Can you please come up here for a second?" Professor Green said as he summoned Johan over.

Johan and Judai exchanged confused glances. Johan's confused look changed to dread as he remembered the email from the doctor. "Craaap!" Johan groaned as he got up.

"What? What is it?" Judai asked, surprised at Johan's sudden change of mood.

"Don't worry about it," Johan replied with a smile as he made his way down to Professor Green.

"What can I do for you?" Johan asked as approached his teacher.

"Well, Mr. Anderson, I am sure we both know about the email from the doctor. She has excused you form dueling today due to your injury. I would be best if you sat out today. We would not want to aggravate the cut, now would we," Professor Green said this all as he looked at Johan's hand a bit worried.

"But I'm sure that I am fine. It's almost healed! Nothing is going to happen if I duel just once," Johan pleaded. Johan knew that his hand was fine. The stitches were not going to rip. The doctor was just being over cautious. He had wanted to tag duel with Judai in class since school had started.

"I'm sorry Mr. Anderson but it's the doctor's orders. You can duel next week," Professor Green replied, trying to sound sorry but failing. "No worries Mr. Anderson, I have something just as exciting for you to partake in. Please follow me," Professor Green said an excited grin.

Jodan looked back at Judai and shot him a sorry look. Judai looked back at Johan confused. 'Wait! Where was Johan going?' Judai thought as he made his way down the stairs to catch up to his friend.

"Did you hear that? Professor Green won't let 'it' duel because 'it' hurt 'it's' hand. What kind of a duel's hurts their hands?! He really is a piece of trash," Rick said a little too loudly as Judai passed him causing Judai to shoot him a glare.

Judai then realized that Johan's had was still bandaged from Saturday. 'But he said it was not too bad,' Judai thought as guilt spread through his body. It was his fault that Johan could not duel today. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and watched as Johan left the arena with Professor Green. Feelings of guilt and disappointment flooded his body.

"Now, Mr. Anderson, I just know you are going to enjoy what I have in store for you today," Professor Green side in a giddy tone, barley able to contain himself. He had known how much Johan had loved dueling and felt that the boy was probably going to feel down about skipping class for the day so he had planed something special to make Johan feel better. "Follow me. Right this way," He said as he led Johan up to the second floor.

Johan wondered what Professor Green had in store for him. He had been bummed at first but was now feeling quite curious. What could possibly be making his teacher so excited?

Professor Green stopped suddenly in front of a room causing Johan to almost run into him. "Here we are!" he said in excitement.

Johan's eyes widened in wonder as he looked at the door. 'What could be in there…?' he thought with excitement.

"Go ahead. Open it," Professor Green prompted.

Johan reached out and pushed the door open. His eyes widened as they tried to adjust to the different lighting of the room. Once his eyes had fully adjusted he was greeted by nothing but a bunch of boxes. He looked from the room to Professor Green and then back to the room.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Professor Green squeaked as he clapped his hands.

"Wha-What…?" was all Johan could get out as he tried to process what was going on.

"I knew it! I knew you would be speechless with excitement. I too love the alphabetizing of cards!" Professor Green shouted in joy.

Johan looked at his teacher in disbelief. 'Is this for real? Is he joking?' Johan thought with wide unbelieving eyes. He had expected something great! Something excited. And in his book, organizing boxed of cards was not too exciting, especially when there are over a hundred boxed to organize! He sat there with his mouth open, unable to speak a word.

"Now, now Mr. Anderson, let's not let our excitement ruin out image," Professor Green said as he patted Johan on the back. "Now, let's get started, shall we," he said with a big grin as he pushed Johan into the room. Johan wanted to cry.

Johan sighed as he finished with the last box of cards he had just organized. It had been about three hours since he had started and he had waned to cry in agony the whole time. He had gone through 6 boxed all together and felt like he was going to pass out from exhaustion.

"Good work today Mr. Anderson," Professor Green said as he patted Johan on the back. He had spent the majority of the time talking excitedly about random things as he shuffled through the cards with Johan. Professor Green had been able to organize 24 boxes or cards and seemed disappointed when it was over. "You may leave now. Thank you again and please try not to get hurt anymore," he said as he wished Johan a goodbye.

Johan made his way down to the first floor to find his three friends waiting in the lobby. "Hey guys," He said as he came down the stairs.

"Johan!" Judai shouted as he sprung up from the chair he had been sitting in. "I'm so sorry Johan! It's all my fault that you had to organize cards instead of duel," Judai said as he ran over to Johan and gave him a dramatic hug.

Johan blushed due to the close contact but allowed Judai to hug him all he wanted. "Judai, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not…. Wait how did you know that I was organizing cards?" Johan asked as he pulled Judai back to look him in the eye.

"Oh, apparently that is what he does with everyone who sit out class. He thinks it's a treat," Jim replied.

"A sophomore told us," Fubuki added.

Judai gave Johan a sad dramatic look, almost as if he were going to burst into tears. Johan could not help but laugh at Judai's face. "Don't give me that look," Johan said as he playfully placed his hand on Judai's face.

"Hey! I'm trying to be sorry here," Judai whined as he pulled away from Johan and pouted.

They then made their way to the Dinning Commons for some dinner. They chatted about class on their way to dinner. It turns out Jim teamed up with Judai and Fubuki teamed up with some girl that had a not so secret crush on him. Once at the Dinning Commons they all got their dinner and found a table.

Johan's mind wandered to his water polo match that was to be held next weekend. He had wanted to invite Judai and the others. "Hey, do you guys have any plans next weekend," Johan asked as he poked his food with his fork.

"Of course I do! I plan to spend my weekend hanging out with my best buddy," Judai said playfully as he nudged Johan with his elbow.

"I would say that I am free," Fubuki added.

"I'm a bit busy next weekend. Sorry mate," Jim said with a guilty look. The three other boys at the table looked at him with wide eyes. "It's nothing really… Um… So why were you asking Johan," he said in an attempt to advert the attention from him and back to Johan.

"Oh… yeah… well you guys know that I am on the water polo team… right?" Johan said looking up at them. They all nodded in reply. "Well, the first game for my team is next weekend… I was wondering if you wanted to go and see… maybe," Johan asked hoping to God that Judai said yes.

A big grin spread across Judai's face. "Of course I will come and watch you," he said giving Johan a big pat on the back. "I mean I know nothing about the sport but I will come to cheer you on!" He added, making a fist with his hand.

"R-really?" Johan said with his voice full of excitement and joy. He felt silly to think that Judai would say no.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I come and cheer on my best friend!" Judai said giving Johan another pat on the back.

"I shall be free too if you don't mind me tagging along with you Judai," Fubuki said with a pleasant smile. "I will be sure to bring my cheerleading gear," he added.

"Um… you really don't have to do that," Johan mumbled in reply.

"Sorry, mate, but I won't be able to make it this time. Maybe next time," Jim said with a guilty smile.

"It's cool man," Johan replied. "Anyways, it starts at 1pm and will be held at the indoor pool at the gym. Do you guys know how to get there?" Johan asked. Fubuki and Judai nodded in reply. Johan was overjoyed. He wanted to jump on the table and dance but refrained from doing so.

For a while they talked about the game and how excited they were to see Johan play. Once Judai had finished his meal, he excused himself to get some dessert. When he came back his tray was full of at least one of every dessert the dinning commons had to offer. Johan knew that Judai enjoyed food but never really thought of him to have a big sweet tooth.

"Not again Judai. This is the 4th time this week! All these sweets are going to make you fat," Fubuki said as he shook his head.

"Yeah, and all you ever do is take on bit of each and then throw it all away," Jim added.

"Yeah, well I have not found what I am looking for," Judai said in a defensive tone.

"What are you talking about?" Johan asked as he shot a confused look at all the sweet.

"Well, I just have been craving something sweet is all… but I have not been able to find what it is I am craving yet," Judai said as he thought about the teal cake from his dream and sighed.

"Okay…" Johan said not quite understanding where his crush was coming from. "Well, if you need help eating any of these sweets, I'm your man," Johan said as he picked up his fork and eyed a chocolate cake. The four boys spent the rest of the evening in the dinning commons eating sweets and talking about various things. After dinner they went back to Judai's room and plaid videogames and worked on their dueling strategies.

The next week flew by quickly. Practices were twice as intense, especially for Johan who had missed out on last week of practice. The coach had made him work extra hard so that he was up to speed with the rest of the team. Being one of the better players, but not necessarily the best, he was expected to be a main player for Saturday. Johan was given the position of a flat. He would be situated in the front and would pass the ball and try to score points. Bret was to be the goalie. Johan had made sure to step up his game so that he could show Judai what he could do. He had never really felt nervous about playing water polo but for some reason he was feeling it this week. Could it be because his crush was going to come and watch? When Saturday came Johan was pumped but full of nerves.

"You okay Doll Face. You're looking kind of shaky?" Bret asked as the two were getting into their uniform.

"What?! Me! Nervous? Never!" Johan said as he furiously waved his hand in front of his face and shook his head.

Bret chuckled at his roommate. "Well, let's get out there and do our best," Bret said as he made his way pass Johan, giving him a smack on the ass. This caused Johan to jump a bit and shoot a glare at his roommate.

Johan took a deep sigh and made his way out of the locker room. He looked up into the stands to see if he could see his crush and Fubuki. The stands were full of people and Johan could barely make out who anyone was. In one of the front rows he spotted Liz and Jasmine. Liz waved to him and Jasmine nodded. Johan smiled and waved back. He squinted his eyes as he looked up higher for his crush and finally spotted Fubuki and Judai in an upper row in the stands. They were waving like maniacs at him; well mostly Fubuki was waving like a maniac. Johan smiled at his friend and crush and waved back before he had to get into the pool. Once everyone was in position the game began.

XXX

Judai and Fubuki had just entered the building. He had wanted to come early to get a good seat to cheer for Johan, but Fubuki had woken up late and they got there 10min before the match was to begin. Judai was surprised by the amount of people who had come to the game. He was pretty sure Johan said that this was not a big game but the whole arena was practically full. After searching around a bit, he and Fubuki found some seats in the middle back-ish. Judai looked around as he sat and waited for the players to get out of the locker rooms.

All of a sudden he was jabbed in the side by Fubuki. "LOOK LOOK people are coming out! Which one is Johan! I can't tell!" Fubuki shouted as he stood up and looked at the boys that were coming out of the locker room.

Judai stood up as well. He squinted a bit to get a better look. He then spotted Johan coming out with Bret. Judai had to admit, Johan had a well-built body. He was muscular and strong while still being slim. His skin was white as snow, and was it just Judai or did Johan's skin seem to shine. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the boy. But why? Was it because of how stunning Johan looked or was it because Fubuki had given him a hard pat on the back. Judai didn't really know and chose not to dwell on it.

"I don't think he sees us. Wave Judai," Fubuki said as he waived like a mad man.

"Oh, right," Judai said as he snapped out of his daydream and tried to get Johan's attention.

"Look, I think he sees us," Jubuki said as Johan waived back to them.

"GOOD LUCK," Judai shouted to him over the crowd. Johan winked and gave them a thumb up. He then got into the pool and Judai and Fubuki sat down.

Judai watched as Johan got into the pool. Johan's lean muscles glistened in the water and caused Judai to go into somewhat of a trans. He watched Johan's every move. He had to admit that Johan was a pretty good player. Why had he never really known this about Johan? This made Judai wonder what else he didn't know about his teal-haired friend. He watched as the boy swam to and fro in the pool subconsciously admiring his every move. He could not help but wonder what his skin must feel like. It just looked so smooth. Judai started to space out a bit as he thought about it.

"WOOOOHOOOOO!" Fubuki shouted, causing Judai to snap out of his strange daydream. "Did you see that! Johan scored another point."

"Oh yeah! He is doing pretty good," Judai commented as he admired Johan more. 'Have I always admired Johan like this? Would one even call this admiration? Am I not just watching my friend play water polo?' all these thoughts flew through Judai's head as he watched Johan's teammates give him a high five. He felt something inside him burn a bit when Bret gave Johan a one armed hug. Why did he feel this way? The burning sensation faded quickly as the game proceeded.

When the game was over Judai and Fubuki made their way out of the pool area. Johan's team had won and everyone was giddy with excitement. Even Judai could not help but be excited. He wanted to meet Johan soon and tell him how happy he was that they won. He really was impressed at Johan's abilities. He had no clue that his teal-haired friend could swim so well. Judai and Fubuki waited in the lobby for Johan. They had plans to meet him after the game.

"Hey, I am going to run to the restroom! Be back soon," Fubuki said as he sprinted off towards the bathrooms, leaving Judai all alone.

Judai sat on a couch by himself. Many of the spectators had already made their way out of the gym area so it was really only him and the lady behind the information desk. She was preoccupied with her phone at the moment. Judai leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, sighing due to boredom. He had never really been good at waiting.

"Hey there," came a voice from next to Judai causing him to jump and look over. He turned to see that the person was none other than Johan's roommate, Bret. "So, did you enjoy watching the game?" Bret asked as he sat next to Judai.

Judai looked Bret over before he answered. There was just something about him that rubbed Judai the wrong way… but what? "Yeah, you guys did great," Judai said with a bit of a forced smile.

"Yeah we did! Did you enjoy watching Doll Face make all those goals?" Bret asked as he glanced at Judai.

Judai gave him a confused look. 'Who is Doll Face,' he thought as he cocked his head to the side and looked at Bret.

"Oh, I mean Johan… Did you enjoy watching dear Johan?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah… I guess," Judai said not really understanding what Bret was getting at.

"Yeah… He is a great guy, don't you think," Bret said as he looked around the gym. "One of the sweetest people I know and cute to boot."

'What is Bret talking about?' Judai thought, not quite sure what to say. "Yeah, he is really nice," Judai finally said weakly.

Bret then turned to Judai, looking him right in the eye. "You know, he talks about you often, and by often I mean everyday…." Bret said in a serious tone that confused Judai even more. "It's almost as if you are the world to him," Bret added his voice sounding a bit dreamier. He sat and stared at Judai, waiting for a reply.

Judai was confused. What was Bret trying to tell him? 'Could it be that Johan likes….' Judai started to think but wiped the thought from his mind. "Is that so… I think about him too… I mean, we are best friends," Judai said with a big grin. He then looked back at Bret. Bret's expression confused him even more. His face was a mix of seriousness and cockiness. Almost as if he knew something important that Judai didn't.

"You know, if you're too slow, someone is going to take him away…" Bret said, his expression not chanting. He then blinked and stood up. "Well, I'll see you later Judai," he said with a lazy wave of his hand as he walked off toward the exit.

Judai sat in stunned silence. What had just happened? Judai had no clue. He felt like Bret had just threatened him, but how? It was not a threat. All he did was ask him if he enjoyed watching Johan during the game. And then Bret asked how he felt about Johan . And did he imply to Judai that Johan may have feelings for him? And what was that at the end? If he was too slow Johan would leave? Too slow for what? Judai had no clue what he meant by 'too slow'. Judai was so confused that he could barely think. Maybe this was a joke or something. Johan did say that Bret was a jokester. But something told Judai that Bret was not joking… That he was trying to tell Judai something about Johan.

"Hey! Did you like the game?" Johan asked as he approached Judai from behind. This caused Judai to almost jump out of his pants for the second time in the last five minutes. "Hey, you okay?" Johan asked as he looked over Judai who was still a bit dazed. He took a seat beside Judai.

"What! Oh yeah. I was just…" Judai said as he thought if he should tell Johan about what just happened between him and Bret. He decided it could wait. What if it was just a joke? "I was just resting a bit. Sorry! Your game was great by the way. You were amazing," Judai said, meaning every word, as he patted Johan on the shoulder.

"O-oh, thank you," Johan replied with a pink blush to his cheeks.

'Is he blushing? But why? Was it because I complimented him…. Nah he is probably just tired form working out and is a bit red in the face,' Judai thought as he smiled at Johan. "Well, Fubuki is in the bathroom, after he gets back, do you want to get dinner?" Judai asked.

"Yeah sure. Sounds great," Johan replied with a big grin, eager so spend as much time with his crush as he could.

Once Fubuki came back the boys went downtown for dinner to celebrate Johan's team winning. Judai had set aside the moment he had with Bret. He could think about it later. Now he wanted to congratulate his best friend.

XXX

Later that night, Judai had another strange dream. He was back at the party with all the cakes. Full of excitement, he went on a search for his teal cake. After much searching he turned a corner and there it was at the end of the row, beautiful and shinning. He could smell it's scent from where he stood. It had an alluring scent of sweet spice. He started to make his way over to the cake but was stopped when someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see that it was Bret.

"You know, if you don't hurry, it will all be gone," Bret said with the same expression from earlier, as if he knew something Judai didn't.

"What do you…?" Judai started to say as he turned back to his dear teal cake. His eye widened in horror as he saw that the teal cake was gone. Every last bit of it was gone. But how? It was just there and now it's not. He then turned back to Bret but was met by nobody. Judai looked around in a confused panic. Why did he feel such panic over a silly cake? It's just a cake but the mere idea of it not being a part of his life terrified him to no end. Before he could stop himself he ran as fast as he could down the aisles of cakes looking for his teal cake, his heart pounding and his mind in a blur! He then slipped on something causing him to fall.

"OOOF," Judai huffed as he fell from his bed to the floor. "Whaaat..?" he said as he sat up and oriented himself. He was in his room. It was dark and he had fallen from his bed to the floor. For some reason his heart was pounding like crazy and he was a bit flustered. He then remembered that he had another dream about his teal cake and that Bret had been in it this time. "Stupid roommate," Judai mumbled as he pulled himself back into bed. "Why do I keep having that dream….?" He moaned as he rubbed his eyes. He sighed one last time before drifting off to sleep.

(Yes, Judai! Why do you keep having that dream! Could it be because you love someone or are you just hunger for cake! Well I hope you all enjoyed chapter 7! Sorry it took so long to get out. I was at the beach this weekend. Chapter 8 should be out in about a week or less, if all goes according to plan. I would say that at this point we are a little more than half way done with this fic. Maybe just 4 or 5 more chapters so I hope you all decide to hang around and read till the end!

I want to thank you all for the wonderful reviews and follows! They make me so happy! They really do! Please keep on reviewing :D

I want to thank Judaisbutt for being my beta!)


	9. Chapter 8

(Frist, I want to thank you all for all the wonderful reviews! They all made me so happy! So Thank you! Here is chapter 8. It is a bit longer than the other chapters! I hope you all don't hate me by the end of it! Please enjoy!)

(I don't own Yugioh GX or the card game… or any of the movies I may have mentioned in this chapter.)

Chapter 8

Judai sat on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. It has been almost a month since he had seen Johan play his first water polo game and was well into December. Since that time Judai had gone to see Johan play once more. He enjoyed seeing his teal haired friend play the sport. He didn't know why but something about watching Johan calmed Judai. Recently Judai had also started to look forward to the weekends in hope to spend long amounts of time with Johan. Had he always been this excited to be with the boy? Of course! In high school, after meeting Johan, they would spend every minute they could together. But something was different now from then. Back then Judai did not lie in bed and think about Johan when he was not around. But now, when Judai had nothing to do, his mind would often drift to thoughts of Johan. Why was this? He had never felt this way before. Were they becoming closer friends now? Was that why he wanted to see Johan more often? That must be it. Their friendship was growing and that must be what is causing Judai to long for the teal haired boy.

Judai was unsure about Johan's feelings. He knew he was being silly, but recently he has noticed that Johan was acting strange at times. Whenever they touch, Johan's cheeks would often go pink. Was this just a coincidence? Judai would naturally think it was, but ever since his talk with Bret, Judai was not so sure anymore. Judai had decided to forget about the whole conversation with Bret, but at times it would come back to him. Bret had told Judai that he meant the world to Johan. 'Am I the world to Johan? Does he really talk about me every day?' a strange warm feeling spread from Judai's chest as he remembered his conversation with Bret. But Judai did not want to get ahead of himself. What if this was just a joke? Somewhere deep down in the depths of his heart Judai knew that it was not a joke. What if Bret was trying to put ideas in Judai's head to mess with him and Johan. Judai did not know Bret too well yet and was not going to fall for it if it were a joke. He did not want to mess up his strong friendship with his teal haired friend over some prank.

Just then Judai's mind shifted to something completely different. Yes, it was well over a month later and he still has been having dreams about that teal cake. Every dream is almost always the same. He would show up at a party or a picnic or some sort of crazy cake event, and there would be cakes everywhere. He would run down the isle of cakes till he found his beloved teal cake. Right as he was about to get to it, he would be stopped by Bret. Who would always tell him the same thing, "If you don't hurry, it will all be gone." Then the teal cake would be completely gone and Judai would panic and look everywhere for it. Why did he keep having this dream? Judai just does not understand it. All he knows is that it's making it hard for him to sleep at night. He really wished he could just forget about the stupid cake dream but it seems that his mind and body do not want him to.

Judai sat up in bed and looked at his clock. It read 7:30pm. 'Dinner time,' he thought as he got out of bed. He was feeling quite hungry. It was Wednesday so that meant no dinner with Johan. Judai frowned at the thought of not seeing his best friend but knew he just had to wait till Friday till he could see Johan. Judai normally ate with Jim and Fubuki but today he opted out and took a rest in his room while they ate. Now he felt hungry so he decided to head off to the 'Take Away' restaurant on campus to get dinner. He gathered his stuff and headed out lazily.

XXX

Johan woke on Friday full of energy and excitement. The past month had been a pretty good one for him. He had been able to spend ample time with his crush without any crazy mishaps. He also had been doing well in water polo. He has been able to keep up with all his studies despite how busy he had been with practice and being social with his dueling friends. He probably had the library to think for it. Dueling class had also been going well. Rick often avoided Johan during the dueling time but during lecture he would take any chance he got to talk down about Johan. It pissed Johan off to no end but he tried to just ignore it. He knew oh too well that Rick feared him. Someday he could set the snobby boy straight.

At the moment Johan was on his way over to his dueling class. Practice had been a bit too eventful today. They had a scrimmage against the seniors and upperclassman for fun and Johan had been smacked in the face by one of the other players by accident. It had almost knocked him out too. Bret had to help him out of the pool and it took Johan almost 30min to fully regain his senses. Other than the big purple shiner over his right eye, he was fine. At the moment his eye was covered by a white eye patch that the school doctor gave him. He felt sort of like a pirate. He wished that he could hide his black eye better so that no one knew it was there. He knew that his friends were going to fuss over it and that Rick was probably going to call him names. He was never one for wanting to draw attention to himself.

Once he got to the arena he slowly opened the doors and looked around for Judai. It was a bit hard because he could only see out of his left eye. Once he spotted his friends he entered the building and made his way over slowly. They were sitting a few rows up on the right half of the arena, where they always seemed to sit and wait for Johan. He decided to act as if he was not even wearing an eye patch. As always Rick and his posy were sitting a few rows ahead of Judai and the others. When they saw the patch on Johan's eye they all pointed and snickered at him. Rick made a few pirate wench jokes as Johan passed the group. He pretended not to notice. When he looked back up at his friend he was greeted with surprised shocked looks from all three.

"Johan!?" Judai said as his teal haired friend took a seat next to him.

"What happened!?" Fubuki asked as he pointed to his own eye.

"Yeah mate! Did you decide to quit dueling and become a pirate?" Jim said as he chuckled a at his own joke.

Johan chuckled at Jim's joke too. "No, I'm not a pirate! It happened during practice," Johan said as he lifted the eye patch to show his friends. All their mouths dropped as they took at the dark purple-blue bruise around Johan's eye. "The doctor said that it should be fine in a few days, so stop looking at me like my head is about to fall off," Johan sighed at he rolled his left eye. He had to admit that it did hurt but he was not going to let them know that.

"So, who did this to you, mate?" Jim asked with concern.

"Yeah! Who was it! Tell me so I can teach them a lesson! Was it BRET!?" Judai asked very defensively as he fisted his hands causing his three friends to give him wide eyed stares.

"Judai calm down," Fubuki whispered. "Quite unbecoming," he then mumbled.

"N-no, it was n-not Bret," Johan stutters, still stunned by Judai's reaction. He could not help but blush a bit at the idea that Judai cared this much for his wellbeing. "It was an accident. One of the upperclassman hit me while swimming," Johan said trying not to sound too day-dreamy as he imagined Judai beating up the upperclassman that did this to him.

"This is why I stick to music, surfing, and dueling. Those hobbies do not jeopardize one's face," Fubuki said as if he were full of wisdom.

"A-anyways, it was just an accident," Johan said, not quite sure how to react to Fubuki. "So, it's almost Christmas. Do you guys have any plans?" Johan asked in hopes to change the subject.

"Well, for New Years I will be going back to Japan to see my family," Judai replied in a thoughtful tone. This caused Johan to feel a bit downhearted but Johan knew that New Years was a big event in Japan.

"I shall be heading home for the New Years as well, with Asuka of course," Fubuki then replied.

"I will probably be here for most of the break," Jim said with a sigh. "Maybe I will travel and visit my uncle for New Years. He lives in Nevada so maybe I will go and see him," he added thoughtful.

"Oh… yeah…" Johan said. He was a bit disappointed. He had hoped that his friends would be around but he should have known that that was not going to be the case. Johan had no plans to leave the school. His parents were never home for Christmas anyways and going home would only remind him of that. He had decided to stay at school. Johan then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and his eye met with Judai's causing him to blush a bit.

"Hey, I will be here till December 28th. Maybe we can do something to celebrate Christmas," Judai suggested. It hurt him to see the lonesome look on his best friend's face. Though Christmas was not a big deal in Japan, Judai knew that it was a big event in most European countries.

Johan smiled gratefully at Judai knowing that Judai was probably worried about him. This made his stomach do a few flips with joy.

"Speaking of plans…" Fubuki cut in before anyone could say anything else. "I have some plans for us over the Christmas holiday to celebrate both Christmas and the end of finals," Fubiki said in a proud voice causing the three other boys to look at him in wonder. Just then Professor Green entered the arena and gave them a 3min warning till class stated. "I will tell you after class at dinner," Fubuki whispered as the boys made their way to the center bleachers.

All class Johan wondered what it was Fubuki had planned. He knew that it was probably going to be something extravagant and insane. Johan was always a little excited and sacred when Fubuki had plans. Johan spent the majority of class pondering over his friend's secret plan and before he knew it, class had ended. Johan had wanted to duel against Rick but once again Rick had avoided both Johan and Judai. At the moment the four boys were making their way to the Dining Commons for dinner. They all got their food and sat at a four person table.

The four boys took their seats at a table in the dining room. Johan and Fubuki had decided on carbonara while Judai and Jim chose burgers.

"So Fubuki, you said that you had something to talk to us about regarding Christmas right?" Johan asked as he twirled up some past and shoved it into his mouth.

"Oh yes, I was going to tell you about that now, wasn't I," Fubuki replied with a sly grin that made the other boys feel a bit nervous. "You would not happen to know two girls by the names of Liz and Jasmine, would you?" he asked as he turned to Johan and lifted an eyebrow.

Johan looked at Fubuki with wide confused eyes. 'How does he know them?' Johan thought to himself. "Yeah, they are my neighbours," Johan finally replied.

"Oh yes, they said they lived a few doors down from you," Fubuki said with a nod.

"Sorry mate, but what does Johan's neighbours have to do with Christmas?" Jim spoke up as he dipped a fry into a ketchup mayo mixture.

"I was thinking the same thing..." Johan whispered mostly to himself.

"Oh right! Well, it turns out that I am taking a class with your friend Jasmine. We were partnered up for a project and she had invited me to her dorm to work on it and that's where I met Liz," Fubuki said with a big grin. He had taken to Liz right away, her spunk and snoopy nature was right up his ally.

"And…." Johan said still wondering that this had to do with Christmas.

"And, Liz and I both think it would be fun to have a Christmas party," Fubuki said throwing his hands into the air. He looked at his friends not getting much of a reply. "I was thinking that all we ever do is hangout with each other. We need to meet some new people," Fubuki said trying to convince his friends.

"But I already know Liz and Jasmine," Johan piped in but was stopped as Fubuki stuck his hand in front of Johan's face. Johan gave the hand an annoyed stair.

"Yes, yes…" was all Fubuki said as he held his hand in front of Johan's face. He then turned to Judai and Jim. "So, what do you think?" he asked giving them an innocent smile.

The other two boys just looked at him with wide eyes, not saying a word. Judai was the first to speak. "Yeah, a party would be fun," He said thoughtfully. Judai did not mind parties as long as they were not too big. He was not a big fan of crowds but he did enjoy celebrating with friends.

"Yeah, I would not mind getting to know new people, too , mate," Jim said as he tossed a bit of hamburger meat to Karen. She hissed in pleasure.

The three boys all turned and looked at Johan. He sunk down a bit in his seat as the stares all dug into him. "Y-yeah, sounds great," he said forcing a smile. The way Fubuki was acting made him nervous, almost as if Fubuki had something more than just a Christmas party up his sleeve. Johan tried to wipe the feeling away as he sat up a bit straighter.

"Great! Then it's settled! I will let you guys know of the date, time and location once it is decided," Fubuki sang as he clapped his hands in excitement.

Judai and Jim laughed at Fubiki antics while Johan fought to keep a smile on his face. The idea of Liz and Fubuki being together in the same room made him nervous. He knew that they were both snoops and loved to get up into other peoples busyness. He just hoped that Liz did not try to do anything to Judai during the party. He also wondered if Fubuki had figured out Johan's feelings for Judai. 'No! If he had, he would have said something to me about it for sure,' Johan thought as he tried to reassure himself that all was well. Little did he know that Fubuki had figured out his crush for Judai a while ago.

Johan spent the rest of the night with his three friends goofing around and doing the things they often did on a Friday night. At the moment he was walking back to his room with Judai. Despite being California, the night was cold and Johan could see his breath. The cold was nothing like the weather back in Norway but it still made his cheeks and nose turn red. Judai walked beside him and looked up at the stars. This was something Judai often did when they walked together at night. Johan did not mind because it gave him a chance to look at his crush without having it be too awkward. They then reached the half-way point in the quad and stopped.

"It's a pretty cold night, so be careful walking home," Johan commented as he readied himself to say goodnight to his crush. Though Judai had stopped walking he was still gazing up at the starts, only half aware of what was going on. Johan took the moment to admire his crush yet again. At the moment Judai's nose and cheeks glowed pink in the moonlight due to the cold. Johan so badly wanted to reach out and touch Judai's cheeks. Johan knew how soft Judai's cheeks could be and with the added pink glow to them he wanted to know if they still felt the same. He felt butterflies well up in his stomach as he thought this.

Judai then shot out of his trans and looked to his friend. He noticed immediately the look on Johan's face and Bret's words from a month ago played in his head '… almost as if you are the world to him…' Judai didn't know why but a strange feeling started to take place in his stomach. It was a funny tickling feeling that made him feel happy and sick at the same time. 'Why do I feel this way every time I look at him?' Judai thought in confusion. 'Am I really that bothered over the idea that Johan might like me as more than a friend?' he then thought as his stomach did a small flip. He did not understand these feeling at all and he did not know what to do about it. Part of him just wanted to tell Johan but another part of him was reluctant to do so. But why did he feel reluctant? Judai never felt reluctant over talking things out with friends, but at the moment it felt like this situation was different. What if Johan did like him? Judai had no clue what he would do if that were the case and it almost scared him. "S-so… It's getting late and I should be getting back," Judai finally side in awkward tone. He swayed on his feet a bit not quite sure what to do. Recently he would sometimes get like this when alone with Johan.

Johan cocked his head to the side and examined his crush. "Yeah, and it's cold, so like I said, be safe walking home," Johan replied with a warm smile.

The funny feeling in Judai's stomach returned when he saw the smile on Johan's face. "Y-yeah, you have a safe walk too… and make sure to take care of that eye. I don't remember you being this accident prone in high school," Judai joked in an attempt to lighten his mood. His joke won him a small giggle from Johan that caused Judai's stomach to jump yet again. "Well.… I'll see you tomorrow," Judai replied with a bit of a sigh in his voice but still smiled.

Johan could tell something was wrong with his crush but didn't quite know what it was. 'Maybe he is worried about the party. Judai often skipped parties back in high school,' Johan thought as he looked over Judai one last time. "Yeah… see you tomorrow. Goodnight," Johan said with a smile.

"Goodnight," Judai replied with an awkward smile, his stomach still making him feel very happy yet pukey.

The two boys then turned and went their own ways. On the way home, Johan could not help but wonder what was wrong with Judai. He decided that he would confront Judai if it happened again. 'He is probably just tired. It IS almost one am,' Johan thought as he entered his dorm building. When he got to his room he found that Bret was still awake.

"Oh, well, look what the cat dragged in," Bret greeted as Johan shut the door to their room.

"I think the cat found something pretty awesome," Johan relied with a bit of sass in his tone. He then went over to his side of the room and started to prepare for bed.

"So, Doll Face, I saw Liz tonight and she was telling me about the Christmas party she and some other guy you know are planning..." Bret said this as he watched Johan take off the shirt he was wearing and replace it with his night shirt.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about it too. Should be fun… " Johan replied as he pulled his head through his night shirt.

"Yeah, I can't wait to meet and get to know your other friends. Especial your brown haired boyfriend," Bret said with a wink at the end.

Johan's face went red yet again due to Bret. "He is not my boyfriend Bret! He doesn't even like me that way and if you do anything to heckle him I swear…" Johan said in a strict threatening tone. He did not want to spend the whole party worrying over what Bret might do to Judai.

"Wow, calm down Doll Face. I didn't plan on doing anything to him. I am just excited to see why you like him so much. And to, ya know, make sure he is good enough for you," Bret said winking yet again and smiling.

Johan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just promise me you won't do anything to…" Johan paused as he tried to find the right words. "… to push the none existing love relationship I have with Judai. The last thing I want is to make him feel awkward around me," Johan said sounding more desperate then he meant to.

Bret's expression softened at the look on his roommates face. "Ah! come on Doll Face, I promise to behave myself," Bret replied playfully. He then genuinely smiled at Johan to show he meant it.

"Thanks," Johan said as he smiled back at Bret. "I'm going to brush my teeth then get to bed," he then said as he entered the bathroom. Once his teeth were brushed, he wished Bret a goodnight and crawled into bed. He looked out his window up at the half moon, his mind thinking about his crush. Johan knew that his greatest fear was Judai rejecting him and not wanting to be around him anymore. He knew that the idea of Judai shying away scared him from telling Judai his true feelings. 'It's okay. I am just fine with being friends. This way I can stay close to him,' Johan lied to himself as he tried to justify his actions. He then sighed and buried his face into his pillow. Before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

XXXXX

The next week flew by quickly and before the boys knew it, it was already the end of their first semester. Fubuki and Liz had decided to have the party as an end of the semester/Christmas party. It was going to be held on Saturday December 22nd, just a few days away from the real Christmas. They were all given a secret Santa with a list of things the person likes and were meant to buy them a gift to exchange at the party. Johan had received Fubuki's name and had bought the boy a purple and blue unicorn plush, it was one of the items on Fubuki's want list. Johan had no clue why. He hoped Fubuki liked it. Johan could not help but wonder who got his name. He hoped that it was Judai but if it were Judai, Johan would probably pass out from joy. He was now quite excited for the party. At first he had been nervous about the idea that someone would purposely push Johan and Judai's none existent love relationship but as the party came closer, his paranoia faded.

Now it was the late morning of the day of the party and he was in the bathroom preparing for the day. He had just woken up and it was around 11:30am. He still had about 7 hours before the party. He planned to groom himself a bit and then spend the rest of the day hanging around his room until the party. Now that finals were over, he had a lot of free time on his hands. Bret had talked him into watching old Christmas movies before the party to 'get them into the Christmas spirit'. The boys had bought some cookies and planned to feast on cookies and hot chocolate for lunch. Johan didn't need too much convincing, he liked old Christmas movies. There was something nostalgic about them. He also had a bit of a sweet tooth so a lunch of cookies and hot chocolate sounded just fine to him.

At the moment he was still a bit drowsy from getting back so late the night before. Last night, despite the cold, he had played duel monsters outside with his three buddies till close to midnight and Johan had enjoyed it immensely. He had almost beat his crush and that pumped him to want to duel more.

Johan examined himself in the mirror as he rinsed his mouth and spat the toothpaste foam into the sink. His teal hair was, as always, an unruly mess. He got his hand wet and ran it thought his hair in an attempt to style it but it did nothing. Johan had never really cared what his hair looked like but for some reason he wanted to try and look his best for the party tonight. Johan then examined his face. His face was an ivory white colour despite all the time he spends under the sun. He had tried numerous amounts of times to try and get some colour into his skin but all he ever did was burn and then returned to being ivory white. The only area on his being that was not ivory was around his right eye. Most of the bruising had gone away and it didn't hurt anymore but there was still a light purple-yellow ring around his eyes. Liz had given him the nickname Patch, after the dog form 101 Dalmatians. He did not mind the nickname so much but he hoped that she would not use it at the party tonight. He just knew that Fubuki would catch on to it right way and would probably call him Patch for the rest of his life. Johan pondered the idea to try and fix up his looks a bit more but abandoned it. He could do it later.

He then strolled out of the bathroom, still in his pajamas, and found Bret on the couch. "Hey, Doll Face, you ready for Christmas movie extravaganza?" Bret asked as he healed up several DVDs.

Johan smiled at his roommate and took a seat next to him on the couch. "Sure, what should we watch?" Johan asked as he looked thought the movies Bret had brought with him from home. There was Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch stole Christmas (The cartoon not the live action), A Christmas Story, an old Care Bears Nutcracker special that caused Johan to lift an eyebrow when he saw it, and a few other old Claymation movies that Johan recognized from when he was a kid. "Will we have time to watch all of these?" Johan asked as he shuffled through the movies again.

"Sure, why not!" Bret said in a perky tone. "We can watch a few today than a few more tomorrow before I go home for Christmas," Bret said as he took the movies from Johan to choose the first one for them to watch. "How about we start off with… Rudolph! It's a good classic to get us into the Christmas mood," Bret said as he put the DVD into the player.

"Sounds good to me," Johan replied with a smile. Johan did not mind Rudolph at all. It was one of his favourite movies as a child. Being that he could see duel spirits, he was often labeled as strange by the other kids around him and was excluded from some activities just like Rudolph had been. As a child he had gone through a phase where he searched for the island of misfit toys in hopes that he could live amongst other misfits. Johan could not help but chuckle at the memory of when he tried to make a boat to sail across the sea to find the island of misfit toys but had been stopped by his aunt, who had been in a panic when she had found him trying to set sail into the freezing Norwegian Ocean. He had only been about 8 years old at the time.

As the movie started playing some ads, Bret pulled out the cookies they had bought while Johan put some cocoa mix into some mugs with milk and popped them into the microwave. Once all was prepared they sat on the couch and bundled up with their hot chocolate and there cookies. Johan had decided to go for a snick doodle. He was quite partial to the spiced cookies like gingerbreads and gingersnaps. A warm cozy feeling spread though his body as he cuddled into his blanket and munched on his cookie. Being bundled up on a crisp winter day was one the Johan's favourite feelings. He felt his cheeks go a bit pink as the warmth spread from his stomach to his feet and toes. All he needed now was a fire. He could not help but smile as the warm feeling spread through his body and thought about cuddling up with his crush on a cold cozy day.

"So, you are going to be staying here for Christmas?" Bret asked as the snowman on TV started to sing a song about silver and gold.

"Oh, yeah… I guess so," Johan said, his smile faded a bit. He did enjoy his alone time but the winter holiday was one of those few occasions where lack of human contact made him feel lonely.

"Are you going to be alone for New Year's too?" Bret asked as he sipped from his mug.

"Yeah, probably," Johan replied as he took another cookie, it was chocolate chip this time.

"Well, I am going to be busy on Christmas with family and stuff, my mom is crazy into the holiday and is all about family and shit, but if you want to come and join us for New Years, you are welcome to…" Bret said now examining Johan with his yellow eyes. "My family put's on a big block party," he added.

Johan looked back at Bret a bit surprised as he set his drink down on the table in front of the couch. He had not really thought about New Years. He knew that Jim, Fubuki, and Judai were going to be gone over the New Year's half of the holiday. Johan thought for a second but then decided that being alone for New Year did not sound like much fun. "Y-yeah… If it's okay, I would like to join you," he replied as he smiled softly at his roommate.

"Good!" Beat shouted, causing Johan to jump a bit. "It pained my heart to think that my dear Doll Face was going to spend the whole winter holiday alone!" Bret said dramatically as he lunged across the couch and tackle-hugged Johan, causing the box of cookies to fall to the floor.

"Whaaa!" Johan shouted as Bret tackled him to the couch. "B-Bret!" he stuttered as he struggled against his roommates iron hug.

Bret pulled back a bit so that his face was only centimeters away from Johan's. Bret's hands rested on either side of Johan's head while his shins were at Johan's hips. His purple hair hung down so that the tips of it tickled Johan's forehead. Johan's right hand was flung up over the arm of the couch while his left hand was plastered to the side of his body. His right leg was bent a bit while his left leg dangled off the couch. Johan could feel Bret's breath on his face. It smelt of chocolate and cookies. He could not help but blush a bit due to the position he was in as he tried to calm his beating heart. "You're cute when flustered Doll Face," Bret said with a cocky smirk as he pulled himself off of Johan and took his original position on the couch. " I will head back to school on December 27th to pick you up and you can spend the rest of the holiday with my family and I," Bret said as if the whole hugging incident never happened.

Despite the fact that Bret had pulled himself off of Johan, Johan lay dazed in his pinned down position as Bret spoke. After collecting himself and calming his heart, Johan slowly sat up, still a bit dazed. "Yeah, that sounds fine," Johan replied after a few awkward seconds of silence. Johan had no clue what just happened. Was this another one of Bret's jokes? Bret did often play-flirt with Johan but this was the first time Bret had ever gone this far. Johan glanced over at Bret, who had his eyes fixed on the movie. 'I-is he blushing,' Johan though as he saw a bit of pink on his roommate's tan cheeks. Johan shook his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. 'No way! No way! He was probably just trying to get a reaction out of me again,' Johan thought as he turned his full attention back to the movie.

The two boys spent the rest of the afternoon watching Christmas movies and eating cookies. They also chatted about various things, such as school and water polo. By 5:30pm the incident from the afternoon had almost left Johan's mind. Bret had acted as if it had never happened so Johan assumed that it was meant to be another one of his strange jokes. At around 6:00pm the boys cleaned up their mess and prepared for the party. Johan took extra time to shower and choose his outfit. He attempted once more to fix his hair but failed. As for his outfit he had decided on some jeans, a green long sleeve shirt that had red sleeves and he topped it off with a white vest that had different coloured buttons on it, Johan was quite partial to vests. He felt that this colour combination was quite festive. As he was collecting his items he felt something slip onto his head. "Hey!" he said as he put his hand to his head to find a headband with reindeer antlers on it. The antlers were decorated with small bells so when Johan moved his head, the bells would chime. He then looked over at his roommate to find that he was wearing a Santa hat.

"What? My mom sent them for us," Bret shrugged. "Besides, those antlers look cute on you," he added as he started to gather his stuff.

Johan grimaced as he blushed at his roommate's words but made no attempt to take the headband off. 'Maybe Judai will think they are cute too,' Johan thought as he tried to fight the blush from his cheeks. "Okay, I'm ready, are you?" Johan asked as he collected his gift for Fubuki. Bret nodded to show that he was good to go. The party was going to be held at Liz and Jasmine's room. "We are a bit early but I bet Liz and Jaz can use some help," Johan said as he gathered some liter sized bottles of soda from their fridge and an unopened box of snowman cookies for the party.

The two boys left their room and made their way to Liz's and Jasmine's room. They knocked on the door and heard rushed footsteps. The door then opened and they were greeted by a flashy dressed Liz. She was wearing a glitzed out frilly elf inspired green, red and white dress that proofed out at the skirt and went to her mid-thigh. She had on a matching green elf hat and candy cain print stockings. She harboured a larger toothy green as she stood at the door. "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" She shouted at the two boys before stepping aside to let them in.

"Merry Christmas elf princess," Bret replied with a big grin as he stepped into the room.

"Merry Christmas Liz," Johan said with a jolly grin as Liz shut the door behind him. The room had been decorated almost from top to bottom with fairy lights and tinsel. Many of the lights were flashing. There was a small Christmas tree in the corner where Johan and Bret had kept their TV in their room. Johan then spotted Jasmine on her bed curled in an unhappy ball. She was not wearing anything festive. Johan knew that Jasmine was not the flashy type and she was probably not too happy about all the decoration. She reminded Johan of a disgruntled cat at the moment. "Merry Christmas Jasmine," Johan said as he strolled over to where she was.

Jasmine sighed and looked over to Johan. "Merry Christmas," she replied dryly.

Johan thought about talking with her more but decided against it. She did not seem like she wanted to be bothered at the moment, she was probably still mentally preparing herself for the rest of the night. Johan then turned back to Liz. "I know we are early so is there anything we can do to help?" He asked.

Liz thought for a second. "Well… I don't think I have enough plates for everyone. Can we use some of your guy's plates?" She asked as she counted the plates she had.

"Sure thing! I will be right back," Johan said as he sprinted back to his room.

Johan and Bret helped Liz prepare for the party and before long people started showing up. Liz put on some Christmas music to set the mood for the party and Johan and Bret put out some snacks. The first guest was James from Johan's water polo team. Since James was somewhat into duelling, Johan invited him to meet his other friends. After a while, two of Jasmines drama friends showed up. One was a tall boy with dark brown hair and freckles and went by the name of Mat. At first he seemed stand offish but turned out to be quite friendly. The other person was a dirty blond girl with wavy hair and brown eyes. Her name was Lynn and she had a very sweet personality. To Johan's surprise Fubuki arrived next with Asuka, but no Jim or Judai.

"Where is Judai and Jim?" Johan asked, his heart in a bit of a panic. What if Judai decided not to come!

"They will be coming shortly. Judai, the silly boy, took a nap and woke up just as I was leaving," Funuki told them.

Johan sighed inwardly with relief and then turned to Asuka. "Asuka, long time no see! I didn't expect you to come," Johan said with a bright smile.

"Yeah, well my brother and I are going to travel back home together and I thought I would take a trip up here and see what it is like and then he told me about this party…" Asuka replied a bit shyly. She was not nervous about talking with Johan, but at the moment almost everyone's attention was directed at her and she was feeling a bit stage fright. She had not planned on coming to the party but both Fubuki and Jim asked her to so she complied.

After about ten more minutes there was another nock on the door. Liz skipped on over and answered it. "Oh, hello there, Judai! And you must be Jim! Please come in," She sang as she stepped aside to let the boys in.

Johan's ears perked up at the sound of his crush's name and he looked over to see Judai and all his glory at the door. Judai was wearing what he normally wore, blue jeans with a black shirt and a jacket, but for some reason Judai's presence seemed to shine. A dopey grin spread across Johan's face that only Bret and Fubuki noticed.

Judai looked around the room of people and spotted Johan right away. He swiftly made his way over to his best friend, whom had been talking with Bret and James before Judai showed up. "Hey, there! Um… nice… antlers, " Judai greeted playfully as he poked at the antlers on Johan's head, causing them to chime.

"Hey Judai! I am glad you made it," Johan replied with a joyous grin but tried not to sound too happy. He stared at Judai for an awkwardly long time before snapping back to reality. He then pointed to James. "Um, this is James! He is the guy on my team that I told you about… the one that likes duel monsters," Johan said as he introduced his team mate to Judai.

"Oh yeah! I remember something like that!" Judai said as he recalled a conversation he had with Johan about James a few months back. "It's nice to finally meet you in person James. I mean, I have seen you play water polo a few times but had no clue who you were then," Judai said as he shot his hand out for James to shake.

James took Judai's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Yes, Johan has told me a lot about you too, Judai. It's nice to meet you," James replied as he let Judai's hand go.

Everyone at the party chatted for a good 20 minutes before a delivery pizza man showed up with four boxes of large pizzas. The group dug into the pizza's and chatted on about various things. After about another 20 minutes Liz stood up on a chair to get everyone's attention. "Everyone please listen!" She shouted a little too loudly. "So in a few minutes we will start our secret Santa present swap. After that we have some fun games…" Liz pawed for a second as she looked around at everyone. "Then, we will have some cake and watch a Christmas movie, so please finish up your pizza so we can start the exchange."

After about five minutes, when everyone had finished their pizza, Liz started the Secret Santa game. "So as you all know, we each got a name of someone at this party along with some things that person likes. Now is the time for us to exchange the gifts. I thought it would be fun to sit in a circle so we can see what everyone got," Liz sand as she clapped her hands together.

The group got into a circle and all sat down. On Johan's left side sat Bret and to his right was Judai. Next to Judai were Jim and then Asuka, Fubuki, James, Jasmine, Jasmine's two friends, and then Liz. Johan looked around the room wondering who it was that got his name. His heart fluttered at the thought of his secret Santa being Judai.

"Okay everyone let's being! I will go first," Liz said as she stood up. She looked around the circle of people before approaching James. "I got your name James," she said as she handed him a wrapped up box. James opened the package to find a set of different colour pens. He thanked Liz for the gift and seemed content with it.

Next James gave a bear mug to Jasmines female friend who then gave a sweater to the guy friend, who gave a long box to Liz. Liz opened the box to find a light up toy fairy wand. She squeaked in joy at the sight of it. "Since I have already gone, who don't you go next Johan," Liz suggested.

"Okay," Johan said as he stood up. He felt Judai's eyes following his every move. 'I wonder if he hopes I got his name,' Johan thought as he picked up the gift he got for Fubuki. He made his way over to wear Fubuki sat and handed the boy his gift. "I hope you like it," Johan said with a sheepish grin. He was a bit nervous, wondering if Fubuki really did want a unicorn doll or if it was just a joke.

Fubuki ripped open the packaged with gusto and squealed with joy at the sight of the plushie. "Oh it's perfect," Fubuki sang as he leapt in the air and hugged Johan around the middle.

"Wooooh," Johan shouted as he tried to keep himself from falling over. Once he got his balance he patted Fubuki on the back. "Well, I am glad you like it," he said as he tried to get away from Fubuki's iron hug.

"Let him go Fubuk,i so we can carry on with this!" Asuka said as she pulled her brother off of Johan.

"But Johan is nice to hug! He has a nice stomach," Fubuki said with a sly smile as he glanced over at Judai to see his reaction. Judai did not seem to take notice causing Fubuki to pout. Johan sat back down as he tried to control the blush on his cheeks. Fubuki stood up for his turn. "Well, it seems I am next," Fubuki said as he handed his gift to Jasmine.

The girl opened the gift to find a fuzzy teddy bear. She did not recall putting anything on her list that indicated she liked plushies but she thanked Fubuki anyways. She had to admit that the bear was cute.

Jasmine then stood up and handed her gift to Judai. It was a small square object. Judai had to admit that he hoped that he could have received a gift form Johan but wiped the silly thought from his head. It didn't matter who gave him a gift! Judai took the gift in his hands and opened it slowly. As he ripped the paper back it revealed a diary. It was a smooth, bright green, hard covered diary. He had to admit that he liked the colour. It reminded him of something nice, but what? He looked form the book and then to Jasmine

"What?" Jasmine said with a shrug. "All you had on your list was cards and Ebi Fry, whatever that is…" she said in a dull tone.

Despite the fact that a diary was not something Judai had expected he smiled and thanked Jasmine. "No, it's nice. I really like the color… So thank you," Judai said with a pleasant smile.

Jasmine then sat back down as Judai stood up. Johan felt his heart pound against his chest with excitement as he watched Judai pick up the gift he bought. It was a very lumpy gift and was sloppily wrapped in newspaper. Judai then turned towards Johan and took a step over. 'Oh my god! Did he really get MY name?' Johan thought as joy spread though his body. 'I wonder what it could be!' his mind screamed as his cheeks went pink. Judai bent down with a frown as he handed his gift over to none other than Bret. Something about Bret just didn't sit right with Judai and the last person Judai wanted to give a gift to was Bret.

Johan stared in shock as Bret took the gift from Judai. Johan felt his heart sink like a brick as embarrassment took over his being. 'Oh God! How embarrassing. I can't believe I thought it was for me! I hope no one noticed,' Johan thought nervously as he tried to seem interested in what Judai got Bret. The only people who seemed to notice were Fubuki and Bret.

Bret smiled as he glanced over at Johan and took the gift from Judai. "Oh, what a surprise! I wonder what it could be," Bret sang as he opened the gift. It made him giddy inside to know that he received a gift from his Doll Face's crush. 'I bet he is so jealous right now,' Bret thought as he tore the newspaper open. As he pulled his gift from its wrapping he was greeted by the My Little Pony logo. Bret looked from the gift then to Judai, who had a cocky smile on his face. 'Oh I see how it is! Feeling jealous that I get to live with your best friend?' Bret thought with a smile. "Oh my! Just want I wanted," Bret said as genuinely as he could as he showed off the pink pony to everyone. "Judai, you know me too well. Thank you, man!" Bret said as he stood and gave Judai a pat on the shoulder. For a split second the two boys stared daggers at one another.

"You're welcome Bret," Judai said with a forced smile as he turned and took his seat next to Johan. Johan could feel a strange scary aura radiating from both Bret and Judai that made him feel uncomfortable to sit between the two. He tried his best to ignore it.

Next Bret gave a cute crocodile figure to Jim. Jim thanked Bret as he stood up with his gift. It was a small box that could fit in your hand and was wrapped in pretty silver paper. With pink cheeks he turned to Asuka who blushed when she realized the gift was for her. The two looked at each other shyly as Jim handed his gift to Asuka. "I-I hope you like it," Jim stuttered as the girl took it from his hand. Johan could not help but thought that maybe they liked each other.

Asuka took the gift. She unwrapped it slowly to reveal a box, like one of those small boxed that jeweler comes in. She opened the box to reveal a silver heart shaped locket. Her eyes widened a she looked over the locket. "Jim," she gasped quietly as her cheeks went pink. "It's beautiful," she whispered as she softly ran her hands over the locket. "Thank you," she said as she smiled up at Jim.

Jim's eye met Asuka's and his cheeks went a bright red. "I-I-It was nothing really," Jim replied as he tried to control his feelings. The two looked into each other's eyes lovingly.

"Oooh La La, is that wedding bells I hear," Fubuki sang as he looked at the two. It earned him a swift slap from Asuka. Jim scratched the back of his head shyly as he sat back down.

Asuka then pick up a big square gift and made her way over to Johan. "I know it was not something you asked for, but when I saw it I thought of you," she said as she handed the gift off to Johan.

Johan took the gift from Askuka and notice right away that is was hard and heavy. He pulled the paper back and found that it was a big old hardcover book. The title read "101 Fairy Tales form Around the World." He ran his hand over the cover as he looked at it. "Wow, it's great! I can't wait to read it! Thank you Asuka" Johan said with a big grin and meant every word. He did enjoy a good fairy tale.

And with that the gift exchange was done. Fubuki then stood up to lead everyone in to the next event of the night. "Okay, so next we are going to play a fun game known as the King's Game." Fubuki said as he picked up a red cup full of chopsticks. "Here in my hand is a cup with sticks. Each stick has a number from 1 to 10 except for one," he said as he pulled out a stick with a small picture of a crown on it. "This is the special stick. If you draw this stick, then you are the king and the king gets to choose two random numbers and tell the people who are holding the stick with that number what to do," Fubuki finished with a nod. "Any questions?" he asked as he looked around at everyone. Everyone shook their heads. "Great! Then let's get started," and with that he dropped the kings stick back into the cup and gave it a shake.

Fubuki stood up and had everyone draw a stick. Johan drew the number 4. "Okay so who is the king?" Fubuki asked. James raised his hand. "Okay then James! Why don't you give two numbers a command?"

James thought for a second before saying. "Number 6 and number 10 have to arm wrestle," James finally said. Liz and Jim stood up. They then went over to the desk and had an arm wrestling match. Jim won but put on a good show to make it seem like Liz was going to win.

"Very nice, very nice!" Fubuki said as he gathered the sticks. He then passed them back out again. This time Johan got the king's stick. "So who is the King now?" Fubuki asked.

"Umm… I am," Johan said as he showed everyone his stick. He thought for a second before coming up with a funny idea. "I want number 5 to carry number 8 bridal style down to the end of the hall and back," Johan said trying not to laugh. To his surprise Bret turned out to be number 5 while Judai was number 8. Johan almost burst out in hysterical laughter.

Both Bret and Judai gave each other a cold stare. Johan could feel the tension between the two and grimaced a bit. "Come on you two! Let's get the show on the road," Liz shouted with a clap of her hands.

Johan could not help but feel bad for the two boys but giggled none the less as he watched Bret carry Judai bridal style. Bret had an annoying grin plastered on his face while Judai looked like a pissed off cat. Johan could not help but laugh loudly along with the others as the boys made their way back down the hall way.

Once they got back to Liz's room, Bret set Judai down and said "I hope you enjoyed the ride dear princess." This earned him a stern look from Judai.

"Whatever," Judai mumbled as he sat back down next to Johan.

"Sorry," Johan whispered to Judai as he tried to control his uncontrollable giggles.

"Whatever, man! You just wait. I will get you back," Judai said as he playfully nudged Johan.

Fubuki gathered the sticks once more. The next round Jim was the king and he made Fubuki and Asuka do a silly dance. The game carried on in this fashion for another 20 minutes.

"Finally! I am the king!" Liz sang as she stood up and showed off her stick. "Let's make this interesting… Let's see," she said as she looked around the room. "I want number 4 to give number 8 a two minute back massage on the bed… and number 8 has to lay down and take their shirt off, while number 4 startles them," she said this all with a giddy smile.

Johan looked down and saw that he was number 4. 'Oh my!' he thought with a bit of dread as he looked around to see who number 8 was. His heart did a crazy flip-jump-spin when he realized that Judai was number 8. 'What?! Now way! I must be the luckiest person in this room!' Johan's mind screamed.

"Oh my, this should be interesting! Don't forget to take off your shirt Judai," Fubuki said with a wink.

Judai rolled his eyes at Fubuki as he pulled his shirt off to reveal his flawless chest and stomach. It took all of Johan's power to not drool. 'And I get to touch him,' Johan thought, not realizing how perverted he sounded. He just hoped he did not get a boner while massaging Judai. He had to play it cool. They were friends right, and there is nothing strange about friends giving each other back massages.

Judai made his way over to Liz's bed and laid on his stomach. The covers were cooler than he had expected and smelt strongly of strawberries. Once he realized it was Johan giving him the massage his mind went a bit fussy. The strange happy pukey feeling returned. Was he this nervous about being touched by Johan? Why did he always feel this way about his teal haired friend? Could he be bothered by the face that Johan might be gay for him? Judai tried to play it cool as he lay on the bed.

Arms and leg shaking slightly, Johan crawled onto the bed and startled Judai's back. The first thing Johan noticed was the naturey calming sent that was Judai. He took in his crush's strong smooth back as he positioned himself. Liz started the timer as Johan bent over and rested his heads on Judai's shoulders. He rubbed softly at first but increased his strength a bit. Johan was surprised by how smooth Judai's skin was. It was almost as smooth as he had expected. He could also feel Judai's strong back muscles as he moved from Judai's shoulders don't to his upper back. It took every fiber inside of Johan not to bend down and plant a kiss between his crushes shoulder blades.

Judai could not help but relax as Johan massaged him. All his worries about his best friend liking him went out the window as he relaxed into Johan's hands. He had never expected Johan's hand to feel this good. The boy's hands were strong yet gentle and Judai could tell that Johan was being shy and timid at first but relaxed after a few seconds. Judai could not help but smile, wishing he could see the flustered look he knew was on Johan's face. He also noticed the sweet yet spicy calming scent that was Johan. Every now and then he could feel Johan's breath on his back. This caused a strange sensation to rush through Judai's body. He just wanted to turn around a hold the boy that was on his back. Before he knew it the timer that Liz had set went off causing both boys to jump.

"Okay ! I would hate to separate you two lovebirds but it's time for the next round," Liz spoke yet again a little too loudly.

Johan was still startling Judai's back when he realized everyone had been watching. He had been so taken in by his crush that he forgot about everyone else. "O-Oh yeah, Right!" Johan stuttered as he rolled off of Judai's back and stumbled off the bed. His face was beat red as he returned to his spot on the ground. 'I wonder if he liked it,' Johan thought as he watched Judai pull his shirt back on.

Judai was a bit disappointed that it was over. He was surprised to admit it, but he quite enjoyed the massage. He had received many massages in his life but this was the first time he had ever felt this refreshed after a massage. 'Johan is actually quite good at this,' he thought as he sat down next to his best friend. Judai then wondered if the pukey feeling he felt in his stomach was normally when getting a massage. He shrugged the thought off as he pulled his next stick. For some reason Judai was feeling very content and happy.

During the next turn Judai was the king and he made Jim, who was number 3, and Asuka, who was number 6, share a stick of pocky Lady and The Tramp style. By the end of it, both Asuka and Jim were red in the face. Johan could not help but smile at how cute the two were.

"Okay so the next round is going to be the last one so let's make it spicy," Fubuki said as he passed the ticks around. Johan had received stick number 8. "Well look at that! I am the king," Fubuki said as he showed off his stick. "Now, let see… I want number 8 and number…" Fubuki paused as he looked around the room. "Number 8 and number 4 have to kiss for a full 30 seconds!" he finally said feeling satisfied with himself.

"K-K-Kiss?" Johan unintentionally shouted.

"Oh well look at that! Dear Johan is number 8… Who is the lucky person to share a kiss with our Norwegian prince?" Fubuki sang as he looked around at everyone.

Johan noticed Judai's eye widen and saw that his body tensed up. 'C-could Judai be number 4,' Johan thought both excited and nervous.

"Well, look at that! I guess today IS my lucky day, Doll Face," Bret said as he revealed that he was holding stick number 4.

Judai's eye went even wider as he saw that Bret was the one with stick number 4. Of all the people to kiss his best friend, why did it have to be Bret? For some reason Judai's calm relaxed attitude was replaced by a small burning rage. 'Why do I feel this way? Am I that protective of my friends? It's just a kiss,' Judai thought to himself as he tried to fight the burning feeling down.

Johan turned and looked at his roommate with wide eyes. He suddenly remembered the incidents from this afternoon and a nervous feeling rushed through his body.

"Okay you two pucker up," Fubuki said as he stood up and pushed the two closer to each other.

Johan could feel everyone's eye's, including Judai's, on them. 'Okay, let's just get this over with,' Johan thought as he closed his eyes and puckered his lips. Bret licked his lips and went in for the kiss. Bret nibbled a bit at Johan's lips as he kissed him. After about 5 second into the kiss he gave a strong push that caused Johan to gasp. Bret then shot his tongue into Johan's mouth taking in the sweet taste that was Johan. Johan noticed right way the Bret had a spice taste to him. Bret then moved one hand up to Johan's face and caressed it as his other hand rested behind Johan's head to help deepen the kiss. Johan's right hand was supporting him as he tried to keep himself from falling over form the force of the kiss while his left palm was at Bret's chest in an attempt to push Bret back a bit. Johan felt the world go fuzzy as his roommate explored the inside of his mouth with his tongue. He had not expected Bret to be such a good kisser. Johan had kissed a few people in his life but it had never been as passionate this. With his eyes closed shut Johan's head spun as he tried to keep it together. After what felt like a decade the timer went off and the two pulled apart. A small line of spit connected their lips. Breathing heavily, Johan cracked open his eyes and we greeted by a yellow dazed-over stare. Johan's cheeks were red and his lips were now a bright pink from the kiss. He could still taste Bret in his mouth. He was unable to say a word.

Bret pulled back a bit, causing the spit that connected their lips to break. "Humm, better than I expected. And who would have thought that Doll Face would taste so sweet and was that cinnamon I tasted" Bret cooed as he licked his lips and glanced over at Judai.

Judai was staring daggers at Bret. His state of mind went from calm and happy to burring and pissed as he watched Bret kiss Johan. For some reason this act pissed Judai off to no end. When Bret had inserted his tongue into Johan's mouth, Judai had wanted to pull the two apart and punch Bret in the face. 'No one can kiss my Johan like that?' he thought as rage surged though is body. He knew something was off about this Bret and Judai did not trust him. 'Calm down Judai! It is just a game! No need to get so pissed,' he told himself as he tried to settle his rage. 'It was just a kiss,' he thought to himself again.

When Johan came to his senses he looked around the room to see that everyone was starting at him and Bret. He then noticed the angry look Judai was sending Bret. 'Is he jealous?' Johan thought as he examined Judai's face. Jadai's eyes then wandered from Bret's challenging stare to Johan's flustered stare. Johan noticed that Judai's eyes softened a bit as the brown eyes stared into his green ones.

"Well, that was hotter than I expected," Liz said with a laugh that caused Johan to jump and look away from Judai.

"Yeah, Bret, Fubuki said to kiss Johan, not make out with him!" Jasmine spat as she rolled her eyes.

"Whaaat? This is how I always kiss," Bret said with a shrug.

The group sat awkwardly for a few seconds before Liz clapped her hands together. "Now, how about some cake and that movie," she said as she made her way to the TV that was by the Christmas tree. Everyone stood up and found a spot in front of the TV. Once again Johan had Judai on one side of him and Bret on the other.

As the movie played Johan noticed that Bret and Judai kept shooting nasty looks at one another. 'What is wrong with them? Why are they so pissed off at each other,' he thought as the two were now glaring at one another over Johan's head. Johan could not figure it out.

Once the movie was over the group all wished each other a goodnight. Johan was happy to see that everyone, except Bret and Judai, seemed to make friends. Johan wished Judai a goodnight as he and Bret made their way down the hall to their room. As Bret walked way he turned and shot Judai a look as if to say 'looks like I win this round' as he put an arm around Johan's shoulder. Johan immediately shoved Bret's arm away. Judai tried his best to control his anger as he watched Johan and Bret enter their dorm room. Never in his life did Judai think he would ever feel this way over a friend. He then turned and followed Fubuki and Jim back to their dorm.

Once in his room, Johan brushed his teeth and put on his PJ's. Still a bit flustered by the kiss, he wished Bret a hasty goodnight and hopped into bed. Johan first wondered why Bret would kiss him like that. 'He did say that is how he kisses everyone and he is a passionate person. Maybe this was normal for him,' Johan thought as he looked out his window. 'and was it just me or did Judai seem jealous…' he though as his cheeks went red. The idea that Judai was jealous over this kiss made Johan's heart jump with joy. He then remembered the feeling of Judai's back under his hands. It had felt like haven to Johan. Doing something like that with Judai was an act Johan had dreamed of, oh so many times. 'I wonder if it felt as good for him as it did for me… and he smelt so nice' Johan thought with a blush . He then cuddled down into his bed and fell asleep, his thoughts full nothing but Judai.

XXXX

Judai once again found himself at the party full of cakes and once again the panicked feeling to find his teal cake over took his body. Without realizing it, he started to run hastily down the aisles of cakes. As he turned at a random corner he saw his beloved teal cake. He ran to it but once he got there he was blocked by none other than Bret. Bret stood holding the last piece of teal cake on a plate. He dug his fork into the cake, shoved it into his mouth and swallowed it. "Who would have thought that it could taste so sweet… and is that cinnamon I taste," Bret said as he licked some teal frosting from of his lips. Judai's pulls sped up as the rage he had felt from earlier that night filled his body yet again as he pulled his fist back to punch Bret. As he swung his fist forward, his footing became unbalanced and before he knew it the room full of cakes was gone and he was falling through a hole. "OOOOF" Judai said as he fell from his bed to the floor. He looked around his dark room and realized it had been a dream. "Stupid cake… Stupid roommate," Judai mumbled as he pulled himself back into his bed. 'Why must I feel this way? What the hell is wrong with me,' he thought with a sigh as he rolled over and attempted to fall back to sleep.

(So yeah! This was one of the first things I planned to put in the fic from the beginning. I hope you all found it HOT! I always imagined that Judai would be a bit possessive of his lover but that's just me! He just needs to realize his own feelings. NO JUDAI! You are not hungry for cake! You are hungry for JOHAN! Anyways! I hope you liked this chapter! The next one will probably be up next week! It will probably be about Christmas and New Year's. It will set up for the climax of the story! Anyways it will be out in about a week.

Once again I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful reviews and follows and favorites. Please leave me more reviews. I want to hear what you guys thought of this chapter! Also this is my tumblr (pastaprincess) if you ever feel like following me their or asking me stuff or if you just want to talk!

I want to thank Judaisbutt for being my beta.)


	10. Chapter 9

(Okay everyone! Here is chapter 9. It is way longer than I expected! I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and there is the word penis in this chapter. I don't know if that bothers people but just a fair warning! )

(I don't own Yugioh GX, any of its characters or the card game. I also don't own any Disney movies I may have mentioned.)

Chapter 9

It had been two day's since Johan had last seen Judai, but despite not seeing each other, they had kept in contact via phone. The day after the party was a strange one for Johan. He had promised Bret that he would finish off the Christmas movies with him before Bret left for home. At first Johan had been nervous about watching movies with Bret. The kiss from the night before was still fresh in his mind. Johan had told himself that it was just Bret's normal way of kissing and would kiss anyone like that, but despite what he told himself, Johan could not calm down. It was not that he was growing feelings for Bret, it was just that Johan had never done anything this imitate with anyone and it spooked him a bit. Johan knew it would have been a different story if Judai was the one who had kissed him like that. Despite Johan's nervous behavior, Bret acted as if nothing had ever happened. They had watched three movies before Bret left for home and there were no mishap. Johan had also calmed down a bit and felt silly for being worried to begin with. As Bret left, he reminded Johan that he would come and get him on the 27th.

At the moment, Johan was heading over to Judai's dorm room. It was Christmas day and the two boys planned to spend the day together around town and then hang out and celebrate with Jim, Asuka and Fubuki in the evening. Johan had only seen Fubuki and Asuka since the party and was pleased to be able to spend the actual Christmas with everyone, especially with his crush. Apparently Jim and Judai were busy with something that kept them away for two days. Fubuki and Askuka seemed to know why but would not tell Johan what it was. Fubuki had wanted to tell Johan but Asuka would not let him. "It's Judai's surprise, so we should let him reveal what it is!" Asuka had said when Fubuki tried to let the secret slip. Johan was very curious as to what it was but also though it would be more fulfilling to hear it from Judai's mouth.

Johan looked up at the clear blue sky as he walked. It was a crisp cold day and at the moment he could see his breath. He knew that once it was noon, it would warm up. Back in Norway this would have been considered fall weather but in the bay area of California, it was winter. Johan sort of missed the cold weather but at the same time enjoyed the warmer climate. It reminded him of Duel Academy. Johan started to hum as he walked. He was very excited to see Judai. Johan had bought Judai a special Christmas gift. It was a small hand carved Hane-Kuriboh keychain that was sold at the duel café near the beach. Johan had helped Risa make this particular keychain yesterday. Parts of it were a bit sloppy but Johan had put his heart into making it. It was nothing special but Johan hopped that Judai would like it. He had put it in a small box and wrapped it up himself in shiny gold wrapping paper that Liz gave him. At the moment it was tucked away in his backpack.

Johan picked up the pace as Judai's dorm came into view. Judai had told Johan to meet with him at around 11pm. He said that the surprise should be fully ready by then. Johan was over excited about what it could be. As he came closer to the dorms, his fast walk turned into a jog. Once he made it to the dorm he let himself in and made his way to Judai's room. He greeted the RAs at the front desk as he made his way to the stairs. He leaped up the stairs two at a time in an attempt to reach his destination faster. Once at Judai's door he took a moment to catch his breath before nocking. He was both excited and nervous to see his crush. Johan knocked on the door a bit too hard and took a deep breath as he heard footsteps come to the door.

When the door opened, Johan was greeted by a bright faced Judai. Asuka and Fubuki had warned that, despite the surprise, Judai had been a bit mood-swingy the last two days. Judai was wearing his normal outfit of jeans, boots, a black shirt and a jacket. It was what he always wore but once again, Judai seemed to glow. Judai smiled brightly when he saw that it was Johan at the door. Johan blushed a bit and returned the smile.

"Merry Christmas! Glad you finally made it," Judai greeted as he opened the door wider. "I am ready to head out if you are," he said as he adjusted the backpack he had on.

"Merry Christmas to you, too! Yeah, let's get going! I really want to see what that surprise is," Johan replied with a playful wink.

"You're going to think it's awesome, believe me!" Judai sang as he stepped out of his room and locked his door. "And if you don't think it is awesome, I will have no choice but to disown you as a friend," he then joked as he dropped his key into his backpack.

"Disown me? I don't know! I don't think there is anything in this world that is better than my friendship," Johan joked back.

"Well, we will just have to see about that," Judai said with a silly smirk. Judai then stood up straight and looked fully at Johan. He then took Johan's hand in his, causing Johan to blush even more. "Come on. It's out the back at the parking lot," he said, his voice full of excitement, as he took off with Johan in hand.

"What!? The parking lot?" Johan gasped in surprise. He almost thought Judai was about to confess or something. He should have known.

Judai dragged Johan all the way to the first floor and stopped at the back exit. "Okay, now, close your eyes and don't open them till I tell you too," Judai command with a wide grin.

Johan gave Judai a suspicious look. 'What does he have up his sleeve?' Johan thought as he looked Judai over once more. He then slowly closed his eyes. 'Maybe he will kiss me,' he thought, knowing that that was never going to happen.

Judai waved his hand in front of Johan to make sure the teal haired boy could not see. Once he was satisfied he went behind Johan to help push-guide him out the door. "Okay, no peeking until I tell you it's okay!" Judai commanded yet again as he guided Johan out the back door and too the parking lot.

Johan kept his eyes shut as tight as he could as he walked along. Every now and then Johan could feel Judai's warm breath on his ear. He could not help but blush at how close he was to his crush. 'What could it be?! What could it be?!' Was all that ran though Johan's mind in an attempt to distract himself at how close he was to Judai!

Judai then placed his hands over Johan's closed eyes. "Okay! When I take my hands off your eyes, you can look," Judai said into Johan's ear.

The tickle of Judai's warm breath on Johan's ear caused a shiver to travel down Johan's spine. "O-okay," Johan replied, trying not to sound too excited by the close contact with Judai.

"Okay then! Here we GO! One…two… three," Judai sang and on three he lifted his hands from Johan's eyes.

Johan cracked his eyes open when he felt Judai's hands lift off them. He blinked the fuzziness from his eyes as they adjusted to the bright sunlight. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked in front of himself and was greeted by a shiny red motorcycle parked nicely in the parking lot. It took Johan a few minutes to process what was going on. With his mouth open wide, he looked from the bike to Judai and then back to the bike. "Is this…." He started to say but found it a bit hard to speak "yours?" He finally said after a couple second of silence. He looked to Judai for a reply and was met with a big toothy grin.

"Isn't she beautiful," Judai sang as his eyes lit up.

Johan had noticed that since Judai had helped him get Rainbow Dragon back from the masked guy over the summer, Judai had taken a sudden interest in motorcycles. When Johan had asked him about the sudden interest, Judai would just smile and shrug. Johan could not help but smile back at his crush. "It's so cool Judai! Where did you get it!? Can you ride it? Do you even have a license?" Johan asked all these questions as he walked over to the bike.

"I kind of got her as a gift from my family. They know it's hard to get around in America without some means of transportation so, with a bit of coaxing, they helped me buy this bike," Judai said as he shot a loving look at his motorcycle.

Johan could not help but feel a bit jealous of the bike. He wished Judai would look at him that way. He quickly wiped the feeling form his mind knowing it was silly. "WOW! So, do you have a license? Can I touch it?" Johan asked with excitement as he examined the bike yet again.

"Sure, go ahead," Judai said as he nudged Johan a bit closer to the bike. Johan placed his bag beside the bike as he examined it even closer. It was a bright red motorcycle, its finish shined brightly in the sunlight. It had a big leather seat that was big enough to fit two if needed. It had a small basket-thing to hold stuff on the back that locked closed and match the bike. "And yes! I do have a license, three…. ish… to be exact," Judai replied with a pause as he thought for a second. " I have my Japanese license. I also I came here with an international permit and over the last semester I studied and took the test to get my California license," he said as he counted the number of license and permits he has on his fingers.

Johan gave Judai a surprised look. "You study? Is it the end of the world?!" Johan asked in an overly dramatic shocked tone.

Judai lightly blushed and gave Johan a stern looked as he puffed out his cheeks. "I can study when I want to, you know," Judai huffed as he crossed his arms.

Without thinking Johan swung his arm around his crush's shoulder. "Ah! Come on man, you know I only kid," Johan said as he winked one eye and stuck out his tongue.

Judai could not help but laugh at the teal-haired boy's silly face. He playfully tried to pull away from Johan's hold but as he pulled, Johan put him into a headlock. "Hey!" Judai playfully shouted as he struggled against his friend's hold.

"What ya gonna to do about it?" Johan sang as he ruffled Judai's soft two toned hair. 'Like silk,' he thought with a blush.

"I'll do this," Judai replied as he grabbed Johan around the middle. This caused Johan to gasp a bit and loosen his hold. Judai took the moment of weakness to lift Johan off the ground and up over his shoulder.

"WHAAAA!" Johan shouted as he was lifted off the ground. He always forgot how strong Judai actually was. "P-Put me down!" Johan shouted as he flailed in his crush's arms.

"What ya gonna to do about it?" Judai sang as he mimicked Johan from earlier.

"I'll do this!" Johan shouted playfully as he wiggled like a fish out of water, making sure not to kick Judai in the face.

"Wha! Whaaaa OOooohhh!" Judai said as he tried to keep hold of his wiggling best friend. Judai suddenly lost his footing and started wobbling around in an attempt to prevent himself from falling over but to no avail, the two boys went down! "SHE'S GOING DOOOOWN!" Judai shouted as the two boys fell onto the patch of grass that was located next to the parking lot.

"OOF!" Johan gasped at he hit the soft grass and felt something heavy land on top of his stomach, semi knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for breath as he coughed. He opened his eyes to find Judai sprawled out perpendicular across his stomach. "J-Judai…" he coughed. " I can… breathe," he desperately wheezed

"Oops, sorry!" Judai said as he pulled himself off of Johan and sat beside his best friend. Johan slowly sat up as he caught his breath. He then looked at Judai as if to ask 'Why?'. "What?! It's your own fault for wiggling like that! I was going to put you down nicely but you wouldn't let me," Judai said playfully as he pouted yet again "Oh! And thank you for catching my fall," he added with a goofy grin.

The two boys looked into each other's eyes, completely silent. Then, without any warning, they busted into laugher. Johan fell back onto the grass and held his stomach as he rolled around laughing like a crazed person. Judai had fallen forward and was laughing just as wild. "Ju-da-i!" Johan gasped between laughs. "You're a-ass is a d-dangerous wa-weapon," he gasped as he laughed uncontrollably. "You al-most k-killed me with it," he joked as he wiped tears from his eyes and sat up.

"Hey! Don't disrespect the ass or I will have to sit on you!" Judai play threatened as he too tried to regain his composure.

The two lay down on their backs in the grass next to each other. Both their chests were heaving up and down as they calmed themselves. Every few seconds Johan or Judai would giggle a bit. After about a minute of laying and not saying anything Judai turned to Johan so that he was on his side. "So, are you ready to get going?" Judai asked with a raised brow.

"And where will we be going?" Johan asked as he too turned over onto his side to face Judai.

"It's a surprise," Judai said with a bit of a wrinkle in his nose.

"Another surprise?! Will this surprise also involve you knocking the wind out of me with you iron butt?" Johan asked as he sat up to a sitting position.

"I don't know… You will just have to wait and see!" Judai replied with a sly smirk.

It was moments like this that made Johan fall in love with Judai yet again. Judai was someone he could relax around a just be himself. "Well, I can't wait to see what it is…" he said as he looked into Judai's brown eyes. He could not help but smile lovingly at Judai, his green satire was as soft and sweet as cotton candy.

Judai returned Johan's stare. He had only ever seen this look on Johan's face when the boy talked about his beloved gem beasts. 'I wonder if it's because of the… what's it called… Christmas spirit…' Judai thought, secretly knowing the real reason. Though he often denied it, he knew that Johan had grown feelings for him. Judai just didn't know what to do about it. He normally just ignored it. Being that he did not know how he felt himself, he did not want to jeopardize their friendship by bringing it up. Judai knew he had to settle his own feelings before confronting Johan about it. The only problem was, he did not know how he truly felt. He had never really dealt with this before and he was sort of at a loss. He often thought if he ignored it, maybe it would go away and things could go back to how they used to be. Whenever he thought this, a sinking feeling would settle into his heart.

"So, are we going to sit here all day, or are you going to show me that surprise?" Johan said as he gave Judai a sudden pat on the back.

Judai was shot out of his thoughts by the sudden impact on his back. "Oh! Yeah," he replied as he stood up. 'What's the use of worrying. I want to make sure today is a fun day for Johan!' He thought as he patted the loose grass from his cloths. "So are you ready?" He asked as he turned to Johan.

"I was born ready," Johan said as he jumped to his feet in one motion.

The two boys made their way to the motorcycle and gathered their luggage. Johan put his backpack back on and prepared to walk to the surprised. Judai then produced two helmets, one blue and one red, from the carrier on his bike. He received a wide eye look from Johan. "Wait? We are going to take your motorcycle?" Johan asked as he looked at the blue helmet.

"Duh!" Judai said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Here catch! Safety first, right!" Judai sang as he tossed the blue helmet to Johan.

"Yeah, I guess," Johan said as he caught the helmet and smiled. He examined the helmet a bit before putting it on his head. It was a deep blue color that glittered in the sun. The part that protected the eyes from the wind was black. He then placed it on his head and adjusted it till it was comfortable. The helmet covered his whole face and head. Johan looked over at the bike to see that Judai already had his helmet on and was on the bike.

"Here get on," Judai said as he patted the empty space behind him. Johan scooted closer to the bike and looked at it for a second. The seat looked a lot smaller now that someone was sitting on it. It seemed that if a second person were to join, they would be very close to the person in front. This made Johan's hear skip a beat. "Just kick your leg over and get on!" Judai said with a smirk as he watched the spaced out Johan.

"I-I know how to get on a motorcycle," Johan snapped despite the fact that he had never really been on a motorcycle before. He clumsily swung his right leg over the seat and pulled himself on. Not to his surprise, he was very close to Judai. He scooted back as far as he could to give the brown haired boy more room but there was still not much space to spare. There was a bout three centimeters between him and Judai if he leaned back.

"What are you doing? Don't lean back like that! You need to put your arms around me. It will help keep you stable and from falling off," Judai said as he looked back at Johan.

Johan was so happy to be wearing the helmet because it hid his red face. "O-Oh right," Johan stuttered as he scooted closer to Judai and wrapped his arms around his crush's stomach. "I-I think I am ready!" he stated once he felt secure.

"All right then! Let's get rolling!" Judai said as he started his motorcycle. The roar of the bike's caused Johan to jump a bit. It's not that he was scared of the motorcycle; he just forgot how loud they could be. Judai revved the engine a few times before kicking up the stand and taking off.

At first Johan held Judai around the middle in a tight hold and hid his head a bit on Judai's back. It was Johan's first time on a motorcycle and he did not really know what to expect. Johan could not help but notice how strong and well-built Judai's mid-section was as he held him. He unconsciously rubbed Judai's stomach, felling the boy's abs. They felt perfectly shaped to Johan. He also fell in love all over again with Judai's sent. It caused him to relax a bit. Johan felt that Judai getting a motorcycle was the best Christmas gift for both of them, Judai got a nice means of transportation while Johan had a free reason to hold his crush tightly. After a few minutes his grip on his crush loosened just a bit but he still rested his head oh Judai's back so that he could enjoy the boy's sent.

As Judai drove on he could not help but notice at one point Johan rubbing his stomach. The feeling of the teal-haired boy's arms around his middle and hands rubbing his stomach made Judai's stomach do a funny flip jump. 'It almost feels… good,' Judai thought with a sigh. He then regain his composure 'What am I talking about! He is probably just adjusting his hands… not feeling me up!' Judai thought, a bit embarrassed. 'But I wonder why he isn't lifting his head at all…?' Judai pondered. He had noticed that since turning on the bike and taking off, Johan had had his head rested against Judai's back the whole time. 'Maybe he is just scared…' Judai thought imagining a scared Johan and thinking how cute it would be.

After about 15 minutes of driving Johan lifted his head to see where they were. He was met by a beautiful sunny coastline. The road was only meter from the sea. Most of the coastline was rocky with a few sandy patches her and there. Every few seconds the waves would crash against the rocks, sending white sea foam into the air and filling it with a refreshing salty sea sent. Johan's rested the side of his head on Judai's back as he took in the scenery. As they went on, the rocky coastline turned into cliffs and Johan was able to see far out over the ocean. At one point he thought he maybe saw a dolphin jump but he was not sure. After another 15 minutes of driving Judai stopped at a small path by a cliff. There were a few parking spots for cars on the side of the road by the path.

"We're here," Judai said as he turned the bike off and pulled off his helmet.

Johan leaned back on the bike so that he was not on top of Judai anymore and pulled of his helmet as well. "Wow, it's beautiful but where is here?" Johan asked as he looked around. The path seemed to lead down the side of the cliff to what seemed to be a sandy beach. Johan jumped off the bike and looked around a bit more.

"Once we make our way down this path, you will know where 'here' is!" Judai said with a wink. He then took the helmet from Johan and stuffed it, with his own helmet, into the basket on the back of his bike and locked it. He then extracted his backpack from the caring space under his seat. "Are you ready to go find out?!" Judai asked with excitement.

"Yes!" Johan said as he nodded with big joyful eyes and a goofy grin.

"Then let's go!" Judai said with a wave of his arm. "Be careful on this path, some of the steps are wobbly and it is a long fall to the bottom. Also I was told that there may be rattlesnakes here so keep an ear out!" Judai instructed as they made their way down the path.

The two boys joked and laughed as they made their way down to the beach.

Johan could tell that there was a beach at the bottom but it was hard for him to get a good look at it. The path curved around a bit and part of the cliff jetted out to block the view of the beach but Johan could still look out over the ocean. It took them a good 15 minutes before Judai stopped, almost causing Johan to run into him. The brown haired boy turned to face his best friend. "We are almost there," he stated with a wide smile. "Now you have to close your eyes! I will guide you the rest of the way and you can't open them… Okay?" Judai said, his smile growing a bit bigger.

Johan gave Judai a suspicious look, not saying a word. Walking along the side of a cliff with one's eyes closed did not seem too safe. Johan looked from Judai to the side of the cliff then back to Judai. "Ummm…" was all that came out of his mouth.

"Aw come on! You can trust me," Judai said as he smiled and put out his hand.

Johan could not help but feel that the situation was becoming quite romantic. He almost felt like Jasmine from Aladdin, when Aladdin asked the princess if she trusted him before jumping off the building. Without saying a word, Johan closed his glittering green eyes and took Judai's hand.

"I promise I won't let you fall," Judai said as he gave Johan's hand a reassuring squeeze, causing Johan to blush a bit. Judai noticed that Johan's hand was strong but the skin was soft as silk. Judai smiled sweetly as he turned and started to lead Johan down the path. For some reason Judai's heart was pounding. Just a second ago he felt quite normal but once he took his best friends hand, his heart sped up. 'Maybe I am just excited about the surprise… Yeah, that must be it,' he told himself as he led Johan round a corner. "Watch your step here, it dips down a bit," Judai said as he turned a bit to make sure Johan did not fall.

"Okay…" Johan replied as he carefully walked behind Judai. Johan lost his footing a few times due to loose gravel but every time Judai would catch him and help him regain his footing. Johan' heart was swelling with joy as he followed behind his crush. Despite the fact that he knew it was not a date, he felt that the situation was very romantic. His heart beated wildly against his chest the whole way down the cliff.

After about 5 minutes of walking Johan noticed that the gravel under his feet changed to what felt like sand. 'We must have made it to the bottom,' he thoughts as he took in a deep breath of fresh sea air. Johan's feet sunk into the sand, making it hard for him to walk. He stumbled a few times but Judai made sure he didn't fall over.

"Okay, keep your eyes closed until I say so!" Judai said as he led Johan a few more steps forward. He then stopped and turned to face Johan, almost causing Johan to run into him yet again. "Okay I am going to count to three and when I hit three, you can open your eyes," Judai said with excitement. For a second Judai admired his best friend's features. Judai had never really noticed till now but Johan's skin and hair looked silky soft. Johan's soft teal hair fluttered delicately in the sea breeze while his ivory skin glowed under the midmorning sun. Judai wanted to reach out and touch Johan's face. As he thought this, he felt the happy pukey feeling overtake him yet again. 'Get a hold of yourself, Judai! He is your best friend for crying out loud. Who cares if he likes you!' Judai mentally yelled at himself. Judai had decided that the funny feeling he got in his stomach was probably nerves that came from know his best friend liked him.

"So, are you just going to make me stand here with my eyes closed all day or are you going to let me see the surprise?" Johan asked sarcastically as he shifted his weight to one hip.

Judai snapped out of his thoughts and came back to reality. "Oh…..Um…. right," Judai said with a sheepish grin. "Okay are you ready…. One… Two… Three!" Judai shouted as he reluctantly let go of Johan's hand and stepped to the side.

For the second time this day, Johan's gem like green eyes fluttered open and focused on yet another surprise. 'Is this snow?' He thought as he took in his surroundings. 'No! It's too warm for snow so it must be...' He thought with a gasp. "Is this… sand?" Johan asked as he looked around yet again. Never in his life had Johan ever seen a beach with such white sand. The ocean waves were just as stunning. It was a brilliant blue-green and the water was as clear as a swimming pool. The majority of the beach was soft fine sand but Johan could see that there were some tide pools in the far of distance. He also noticed that they were the only ones who seemed to be on the beach. "What… How… Why…" was all Johan could get out as he turned to look at Judai.

"It's so white, it looked like snow! When I first saw it, I knew I had to take you," Judai said, smiling sweetly at Johan.

Johan felt his heartbeat increase yet again as his gem like eyes locked with Judai's chocolate brown ones. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of the beach and the fact that Judai so desperately wanted to share this secret cove with him. But Johan could not really grasp why Judai was so insistent on taking him here and making it a surprise.

A small blush sneaked across Judai's cheeks as he looked away from Johan and turned his gaze to the ocean. "Wh-what! Didn't you say something about wanting a white Christmas or missing snow or something like that…" he said with a pout in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Had Johan mentioned missing snow? He could not remember. He may have mentioned the fact that it always snowed at his house on Christmas. Did Judai think Johan was homesick? Had his crush been worried about him? Johan's eyes softened as a warm smile spread across his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right, I did want a white Christmas," Johan said, his eyes fixed on Judai. He badly wanted to lean over a plant a kiss on Judai's sun kissed cheek but refrained from doing so. He didn't want to ruin the moment.

After about a minute of pleasant silence, Judai took a deep breath and turned to Johan. "So…. Do you want to try building a sand snowman?" Judai asked as he produced a toy bucket and two toy shovels from his backpack.

Johan was yet again surprised by Judai's creativity. 'A sand snowman…? Judai, sometimes you are brilliant,' Johan thought as a childlike smile spread across his face. "It wouldn't be a white Christmas without a sand snowman," Johan joked as he took one of the shovels from Judai. The two boys laughed as they started planning how to build the snowman.

Judai was the most experienced of the two when it came to building things with sand. During high school, he had gone to the beach many times and built various structures when he was bored. They first walked along the beach and gathered various items, such as shells, sea glass, and kelp, to decorate the snowman with. Once all was gathered, both boys took off their shoes off and rolled up their pant legs so that they could enter the cold ocean to gather wet sand and water. Both boys made girly squeaky sound when they entered the cold ocean to gather the water. It was colder then Johan had expected. At one point a particularly big wave snuck up on them and almost took them out. Johan got away relatively unscathed but Judai's butt was a little wet. They then found a nice firm area of sand, not too close to the shore line but not so far back that the sand was unstable, and prepared the area for building. They spent the next 45 minutes gathering sand, building, and decorating. Despite Judai's expertise at building sandcastles, this was his first try at building a sand snowman, and the two boys soon found out that sand did not like to stay in a ball shape. Once they finished their sand snowman creation they stepped back and gave it a good look.

Johan could not help but laugh when he saw what they had created. Instead of looking like a snowman, it looked more like a deformed penis with a face! "Oh my lord, what have we made!?" Johan said as he burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"I-I-It's t-t-terrifying," Judai said as he fell to his knees and laughed like a maniac.

The two boys laughed and made jokes about the abomination for a good 15 minutes before their laughter died down. "Oh god Judai! First you iron ass, now this! If you keep making me laugh like this, I think I am going to die from the lack of air," Johan said as he lay in the snowy white sand next to Judai, not caring that his clothes and hair were probably collecting loads of sand.

"What?! Me? You're the one who keeps making all the jokes," Judai said as he playfully shoved Johan's arm. The two boys bickered playfully back and forth for a while before Judai sat up. "So… What to do next… We could… Take a walk…or duel each other, eat some snacks… or duel each other, climb on the rocks… duel each other…" Judai listed off. Every time he mentioned dueling he would glance at Johan and smile.

"How about….. we go for that walk," Johan teased as he watched Judai's smile fall. "Or… Maybe we should have a duel first," Johan slowly said as he glanced at Judai from the corner of his eye.

"Well, we really don't have to but… if you insist! LET'S GO!" Judai shouted the last part and in one motion jumped up and produced his duel disk from his backpack.

Johan followed suit and produced his duel disk and deck from his bag as well. They then placed their luggage next to their sands penis man and found a nice spot to have a duel. "Since I won 'rock, paper, scissors' I get to go first!" Johan announced as he adjusted his duel disk on his arm. He was pumped to have a duel against his best friend! It had been a while since they dueled each other one on one like this. They then both took their stance and faced each other. They then made eye contact, exchanging confident and excited stairs. "Duel!" They both shouted simultaneously.

The duel lasted a good 30 minutes before Judai made Johan's life points reach zero. "Gaccha!" Judai sang as he made his signature winning pose at Johan.

"Whaaa! Curses! Not again!" Johan scream dramatically as he fell to his knees and flung his hands to the heavens.

Judai laughed at his best friend as he jogged over to his side. When he got to Johan he gave him a pat on the back. "Good game buddy!" he said with a toothy smile.

Johan dropped his arms to his side and looked up at Judai with the evilest look his pretty face could muster. "You may have won this time, YUKI JUDAI, but next time I shall be victorious! Bwahahaha," Johan said in a deep voice trying to sound as vileness as he possible.

Judai could not stop the laugher that overcame him. "Johan! S-some-times y-y-you can be so w-w-weird!" Judai gasped as he ruffled Johan's soft teal hair and laughed.

Johan tried to swat Judai's hand from his head as he laughed along with his crush. All of a sudden the boy's laughter was stopped short by the growling of two hunger stomachs. A pink blush spread across Johan's ivory cheeks as he held his stomach. "He-heh, I guess I am ready for lunch," Johan said as he stood up, still with his hand on his stomach. He looked to his backpack when he suddenly remembered something very important. "Oh, crap…" Johan whispered as his stomach growled yet again. "Judai! We forgot to bring lunch," Johan said as he gave his stomach a gloomy look. Johan looked up from his stomach to Judai and was met by a wide grin.

"Me!? Forget lunch?! Are you crazy," Judai said as he poked Johan on the forehead. Johan just sired at Judai with a derpy look, not understating what was going on. Judai rolled his eyes and slung his arm around Johan's neck. "It's all good, bro, I brought us a nice Christmas lunch!" Judai finally said with a proud grin.

"What? You?" Johan said a bit dumbfound.

Judai tried to not be insulted by his best friends reaction as he walked on over to his bag. He pulled out a plastic bag with Tupperware in it and placed his duel disk in his back, so as to keep it from getting sandy. He then held the plastic bad in his hand and showed it to Johan. "Lunch is served," Judai sang.

"What? Did you really make us lunch?" Johan asked, as his heart beat like crazy at the idea of Judai cooking for him.

"Well… Sort of… I did cut up some of the vegetables…and put together most of the sandwiches" Judai said as he sat down and opened the bag to look into it.

Johan put his duel disk back into his bag and then sat next to Judai. "So… if you didn't make it all… who did?" Johan asked with a mocking grin on his face. He should have known that Judai only helped in making whatever it is he made but Johan was happy nonetheless.

"Oh, well, Jim, Asuka and I all made it together… They seemed worried about me cooking on my own… I don't know why…" Judai said as he pulled out a juice box and handed it to Johan.

Johan knew why they were worried about Judai cooking on his own. Judai was known by his whole dorm for burning everything he puts on the stove or in the oven. Judai has yet to start a fire but did set off the first alarms a few times. Johan took the juice from Judai and saw that it was a pineapple orange mix. "So… what did you make me?" Johan asked as he shoved the straw into the juice box and took a sip.

"Here, take a look," Judai said as he shoved the bag under Johan's nose.

Johan noticed right away that Judai had not made anything too fancy but Johan's heart swelled with joy nonetheless. His crush made him lunch, just like in those dramas Fubuki watched on TV during high school. He knew that it was an affectionate gesture in Japan. Johan saw that there were many sloppily made sandwiches with various vegetables, meats, and cheeses. There were also some strawberries, some pasta salad and a bag of jalapeño chips. "It all looks wonderful," Johan sand as he reached in and selected one of the sandwiches.

Judai felt his heart beat a bit harder at Johan's words. "Oh, it was nothing really… I made it this morning and most of it was just store bought," Judai said nervously as he scratched the back of his head and smiled. Why was he feeling so nervous?

"Well, I'm still very… touched… That you would go so far as to make lunch as well as plan out with whole day," Johan said as he smiled sweetly at Judai.

Judai felt his hear skip a beat as Johan's soft green eyes dug into him. 'Am I blushing? But why?' Judai thought as he quickly looked to the ocean. "I-It's nothing really…I just… Wanted to share a nice Christmas with you…" Judai said as he tried to control his heart. 'I wonder if this is what they call 'the Christmas spirit'?' he questioned to himself as he look out over the sea.

"Thank you Judai…" Johan said as he unwrapped the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth. To most people it would have tasted like a normal sandwich made from normal store bought bread, but to Johan it tasted like heaven. "Mmmm… It's really good!" Johan moaned as he took another bite.

Judai shot a surprised look at Johan. "R-Really?" he asked, his voice a bit higher then he intended.

"Yes! The best sandwich I have ever had," Johan replied with a wink.

Judai then hastily dug another sandwich out of the plastic bag and examined it. He then took a bit and was disappointed. "What, it tastes normal to me," Judai finally said as he swallowed. "You must have not had many good sandwiches in your life," Judai joked as he took another bite.

"Whaaat? I've had plenty of sandwiches in my life, thank you, and THIS is the best of them yet," Johan replied with a nod. He then took another big bite from his sandwich to prove his point.

The two boys carried on for about an hour munching on the sandwiches, picking away at the snacks and sipping on juice. After they were done eating they decided to explore the beach a bit.

"Hey, let's go check out the tide pool over there before we leave! Maybe we will find something cool, like a shark!" Judai exclaimed as he swung his backpack onto his back.

"Judai, I highly doubt we are going to find a shark in a small tide pool like that," Johan said as he too put his backpack back on. He then glanced over to find a slightly dejected Judai. "But… Maybe we should check to find out! I mean…. Just in case there is a shark," Johan said with a childish smiled.

"And if there IS a shark, you have to make me lunch the next time we plan an outing," Judai said with a wrinkled nose.

"Fine, and if I am right… You have to….give me a massage! My back has been killing me from all the water polo I play," Johan said with a smirk.

"YOU'RE ON!" Judai sang and started running off to the tide pools.

Once the two boys got to the tide pools they looked around in the different pools of water and at the various animals living in them. There were starfish, crabs, hermit crabs, small fish, an overabundance of sea anemone, barnacles and mussels as well as many other creatures, but Johan had yet to see a shark. Johan was pretty sure that there were no sharks in this tide poop. He could feel the back massage now. The idea of Judai's strong hands on his back sent a funny shiver down Johan's spine. Full of confidence in his bet, he bent down and examined a sea urchin.

"YES! I FOUND ONE!" Judai shouted behind a big rock.

The sudden shout startled Johan, almost causing him to dive headfirst into the tide pool. He then stood up and made his way to where he heard Judai. "What is it? What did you find?" Johan asked as he climbed down to Judai.

"A SHARK! A SHARK!" Judai shouted, despite the fact that Johan was next to him. Judai pointed to a large tide pool that had a small channel at one end that led out to the ocean.

Johan looked to where Judai was pointing and sure enough, there was a small baby leopard shark, less than a foot long, tucked snugly under a rock. "B-B-But!" was the only thing Johan could say.

"Looks like I win! I can't wait for my special lunch form Johan," Judai said as he playfully shoved Johan.

Johan could not believe Judai found a shark. "Yeah, Yeah. You win," Johan said defeated. He was sad that his chance at a massage from Judai had slipped away. He did not mind losing though. It filled him with such joy to know what Judai enjoyed his cooking.

"When you make my lunch, make sure there is ebi fry! It has been ages since I last had it," Judai said with hearts in his eyes.

"I will keep that in mind," Johan replied as he giggled at his crazy crush.

The boys spent a bit more time jumping around the rocks before heading back to the sandy part of the beach. They splashed around in the cold water a bit and duel some before deciding to check the time. "Fubuki, Jim, and Asuka wanted to meet for dinner at around six," Judai told Johan as Johan checked his phone.

"Let see… It's only 3:30 now so we still have some time. What should we do?" Johan asked as he looked from his phone to Judai.

"Well…" Judai said as he thought a bit. "We could… Drive down the coast a bit more on my motorcycle. It's a pretty view and the cliff get bigger further on," Judai suggested.

Johan thought it sounded quite romantic and was more than willing to jump on the idea. "Sound good to me," Johan said with an excited smile. A romantic ride on a motorcycle, down the coast line, with his crush; Johan could not ask for more.

The two boys gathered their items and made their way back up the path to Judai's motorcycle. They packed their things away into the bike and put on their helmets. Once all their preparation was complete, Johan took his place behind Judai. A hot blush spread across Johan's face when he wrapped his arms around Judai's strong waist. Judai started up the bike and took off further down the coast line. As they coasted down the coast at a relaxing speed, Johan subconsciously rested his head on Judai's back, his head turned to the side a bit so he could take in the view of the ocean over the cliffs. The smell of Judai's enticing scent mixed with the crisp scent of the sea was heavenly to Johan. He felt all stress and worry leave him as the ride went on. A few times throughout the ride, Johan would subconsciously rub his hands down Judai's hard stomach, enjoying the feel of Judai's well-built body. Though he knew it was wrong, Johan could not help but pretend this day was not just an outing with his best friend, but a date with his lover. The idea set Johan's heart aflutter as the ride went on.

After about 20 minutes of traveling down the coast, Judai found a nice place to stop his bike so that they could take in the view together. He stopped at a little outlet at the top of a steep cliff that overlooked the sea. Throughout the ride he felt Johan's hands exploring his stomach. He wrote it off as Johan just readjusting his grip and what not but Judai could not help but feel butterflies every time Johan's hands rubbed over his abs. "How about we take a bit of a rest before we head back?" Judai said as he parked his bike and turned it off.

Johan had been in somewhat of a daydream and had not realized Judai had stopped. "Huh!?" he said as he shot his head up form Judai's back and looked around. "Oh, yeah! A rest! Sure," Johan replied, trying to play it off that he had not spaced out but was failing badly at it.

Judai pulled off his helmet as he turned a bit on his bike to look at his best friend. He could not help but smile as he watched Johan come back to reality. "Did you fall asleep or something? You kept rubbing my stomach during the ride as if I were a cat or something," Judai commented as he pulled himself off the bike.

Johan was glad that he still had his helmet on because his face was probably a deep crimson at the moment. He had not realized that he had been feeling up Judai throughout the ride. "What!? I-I w-what?" Johan stammered, stunned and extremely embarrassed. He then regained his composure as he shook his head a bit. "Oh… I mean, um, yes! I fell asleep…um, sorry if it bothered you," Johan said as he fought the blush from his red cheeks. 'Thank god for this helmet,' he thought.

Despite the fact that Judai could not see Johan's face fully, he had the strange feeling that his best friend was probably blushing. Judai smiled at the thought of a blushing Johan. "Hey, I'm just pulling your leg, so no worries," Judai replied after a while. "I'm flattered to know that my riding is so smooth that has caused you to fall asleep," Judai said as he hung his helmet to his bike.

Johan chuckled at his crush as he wiped the blush from his cheeks and pulled off his helmet. "Oh, yeah! The best motorcycle ride I have ever been on!" Johan replied jokingly as he hung his helmet on the bike. He then remembered the gift he had for Judai. 'Oh crap! I should give it to him now!' Johan thought as a romantic image of him exchanging gifts with Judai on this cliff sent his heart a flutter. He then pulled his bag from the side basket.

Judai watched with curiosity as his best friend collected his backpack from the bike. 'Maybe he brought some snacks,' he thought as he studied Johan.

Johan felt Judai's eyes on him as he slipped his backpack on. Afraid to look at his crush, he turned to the ocean view and stopped a small wooden bench by the edge of the cliff. "Hey, wanna sit," Johan said as he motioned to the bench.

"Um, sure," Judai replied as he studied Johan a bit more. He then shrugged off his suspicions as he followed his best friend to the bench.

The two boys sat down and took in the view. From where they sat they could see out over the vast sea. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but fresh blue water that stretched out for miles until it faded into the horizon. Johan felt his breath catch as he took in the vast beauty of the Pacific Ocean. Johan then looked down to see waves crashing wildly against the foot of the cliff. They were too high up for any of the spray to hit them. He noticed that there were many rocks at the foot of the cliff and a further away from the cliff, past the wave brake, there was a great bed of kelp. He noticed two small fuzzy creatures wrapped amongst the kelp. "Hey look!" Johan abruptly said as he pointed to the kelp bed, causing Judai to jump a bit. "Judai! I think those are sea otters!" he exclaimed with a childish glow. Johan had always enjoyed spotting sea creatures when at the beach.

"What!? Where!?" Judai said as he squinted his eyes and looked in the general direction of where Johan pointed.

"Look! Right there in the kelp bed!" Johan said as he shot his hand out further.

Judai squinted his eyes even more as he studied the kelp bed. He then noticed the creatures as they floated lazily in the water. "Wow, sea otters! This is my first time seeing them!" Judai said as he too smiled like a small child.

"Aren't they cute?" Johan exclaimed as he wish he had brought some binoculars. From where they sat, the sea otters were just little brown bodies in the water that moved around every now and then.

"Yeah, they are! I wish I could see them better," Judai said as he tried to get a better look at them.

"Hey, I think they have a sea otter exhibit at the aquarium near here. We should go sometimes," Johan suggested as he turned to Judai with a big smile.

"Oh really? Yeah, maybe we should," Judai replied, returning Johan's smile.

The two boys chatted about sea life and fish for a bit before Johan remembered his gift. "Oh! Right," Johan abruptly shouted, catching Judai off guard. "I um… hey! Close your eyes and put out your hands!" Johan said.

"What? Why…? What are you going to do?" Judai asked, eyeing Johan suspiciously.

"Oh! Just do it," Johan said with a small pout.

Judai could not help but smile at the cute pout on Johan's face. "Oh fine!" Judai replied playfully as he closed his eyes and put out his hands toward Johan.

"Okay, no peeking! Okay?" Johan said as he dug through his backpack for Judai's gift. Once he found it, he pulled it out and placed it into Judai's open hands. "Um, okay you can open your eyes!" Johan said with a jolly grin.

Judai opened his eyes to find a gift that was neatly wrapped in golden paper. "What…?" Judai said as he examined the gift in his hand.

"M-Merry Christmas, Judai!" Johan exclaimed with a big smile. "It… um, my Christmas gift to you," Johan then added, his smile wavered nervously a bit but didn't break.

"What? For me?" Judai said, not meaning so sound as surprised as he did. "Can… I open it?" he asked as he turned the small box around in his hand.

"Oh, well yeah. It's Christmas, so go ahead," Johan said as he made a gesture with his hands to prompt Judai to open the gift.

"What could it be!?" Judai said with childish excitement as he shook the box a bit. He then started to unwrap the gift in excitement.

"Um, it's nothing big… I mean… Um… it nothing too impressive either," Johan nervously said as he watched Judai rip the paper off the boy.

Judai held the unwrapped box in his hand as he looked at it for a second. He wondered what it could be. 'Maybe it's a card… It's the right size and shape…' he thought as he opened the small box. He was surprised to find that it was not a card but something else. He picked it up and saw that it was a small wooden, hand carved figure of Hane-Kuriboh. He then noticed that the figure was in fact a keychain. He held the keychain by its chain as he examined it, with wide eyes.

Johan felt his heart beat madly in his chest as he looked at his crush. He could not tell if Judai liked the gift or not. He then felt a wave of nerves rush through him as the thought that maybe Judai didn't like the gift. "I um… It's… Risa… She showed me how… to make it," Johan said lamely as he looked away from Judai and to the floor, not quite sure if what he said made any sense at all.

Judai looked from the cute figure hanging in his hand to his best friend. "You mean… you made this?" Judai asked in wonder, his brown eyes studying Johan.

Johan then looked shyly from the ground to his crush. "Um… well… most of it, yes," Johan replied as a pink blush spread across is fair cheeks. He felt his heart skip a beat as he watched Judai's eyes change from wonder to joy.

"It's wonderful Johan! How did you even make it!?" Judai exclaimed as he examined the figure once again. He noticed that much detail had been put into the keychain to make it look as if it were a small replica of the real Hane-Kuriboh.

"Oh well, Risa first showed me…. And I just… Carved it with a knife," Johan said as his heart swelled with joy. 'He likes it,' Johan thought as he felt a sudden need to cry with both joy and sadness. A mixed feeling of joy and pain swelled up into his chest as he looked at the joyous face on his crush. He badly wanted to hug his crush and share more than just a moment of friendship on this cliff. This was like a picture perfect date in his eyes and it pained his heart a little to know that Judai probably would never view him as anything more than just a friend. He sighed as he fought to keep the smile on his face. 'I will never be more than just his friend…' Johan thought hopelessly.

"It's wonderful Johan… I will treasure it forever… so, thank you!" Judai finally said as he looked form the figure to his best friend. He noticed that Johan had a strange expression on his face. Johan was smile but he also looked like he was going to cry at the same time. Something about Johan eyes seemed so sad at the moment. Was Judai just seeing things? "Hey… you okay?" Judai asked as his gaze went from joy to worry.

Johan shook his head as he came back to reality. "What… oh yeah! Sorry… I was just, ummm…." Johan stammered as he tried to cover up his strange behavior. "Must be… the Christmas spirit or something," he lamely joked. He then quickly wiped the depressing thought from his mind and smiled joyously at Judai. "Hey, maybe we should head back to campus and get ready for dinner," Johan said, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah! Good idea," Judai replied as he shot one last worried look at his friend. 'What was that about?' Judai thought as he placed his gift safely back into its box.

The two boys took one last look out over the ocean before gathering themselves and heading back to campus. On the ride back, Johan made sure not to snuggle as close to Judai as he had done before. He also minded his grip on Judai and made sure not to do anything too odd. He also kept his head off of Judai's back and gazed at the sea as it rushed by. The pain from earlier still hung heavy on his heart as he sat behind the perpetrator of said pain. 'What am I going to do? I can't keep this up much longer,' Johan thought hopelessly as he gazed out over the sea. 'Maybe… I should… just…. tell him,' the idea made Johan's heart beat awkwardly in his chest. He knew he could not keep this up much longer, not with this pain he was feeling.

After almost 40 minutes, the two boys finally arrived back at school with about 40 minutes to spare before the designated meeting time. During the ride Johan had been able to place his feeling aside so as to not make the evening too awkward. Johan and Judai spent the remainder of their time waiting in Judai's room planning out tag duel strategies. At six o'clock the two boys met with their friends and headed out to dinner in Jim's car. Though it was Christmas, many of the restaurants in the area were open for business. Mist Town was a place many people went on vacation, even during the holidays, so many of the restaurants took advantage of it. They enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at a fancy restaurant that nobody but Asuka and Jim were dressed for; the waiters and staff did not seem to mind. After dinner, Jim dropped Johan off at his dorm. Judai followed Johan out and told Jim that he would walk back and not to wait.

"What? Why did you follow me Judai...? It's too cold for you to walk back," Johan said as he watched Jim and the others drive off.

"Oh, I don't know… I just, ya know, I'm going back to Japan for a few weeks and won't be able to see you," Judai replied as he smiled weakly at Johan. He also didn't know why he got out. Judai had made plans to travel back to Japan with Asuka and Fubuki. He had told Johan that he would be in America until the 28th, and he would be, but not at school. Fubuki and Asuka planned to head back to Asuka's school tomorrow for a few days before going home and Judai was made to tag along with them, meaning that tonight would be the last time he would see Johan until after the New Year. He just felt a sudden tinge of loneliness when he realized he had to say bye to his best friend, it's almost like he didn't want to be away from Johan for even a second. 'Probably because today was so much fun,' Judai thought as he tried to find an excuse for this sudden wave of loneliness.

Johan examined Judai as they made their way to the entrance of Johan's dorm. "Oh yeah… But it's only for what…? Three weeks? We can email and talk on skype," Johan said as the joyful-pain entered his chest yet again.

"Yeah…You're right," Judai sighed as he opened the door to the dorm building to let Johan in. Despite the fact that he knew he could keep in contact with Johan, the idea of not physically being with his best friend still made his heart feel heavy.

The two boys then made their way up the elevator and to Johan's room. They then stopped outside of his room to say their farewells. "So, you leave tomorrow, right? Have a safe trip and a nice time in San Francisco," Johan said as he dug his room key out of his backpack.

"Yeah, it should be fun. We are going to visit a five storey card shop before heading back to Japan," Judai arbitrarily replied as he tried to buy himself some time.

"Sweet! Let me know if you find anything good," Johan replied as he pulled his room key form his bag.

"So, um, are you staying here for New Years…?" Judai asked in an attempted to buy more time. He immediately regretted his question when he heard Johan's replay.

"Oh! No, I'm not. You see, Bret's family was kind enough to invite me to their house for New Years, so on the 27th I am going to be with Bret until school starts back up," Johan replied as he fiddled with is keys.

Judai's loneliness was quickly replaced with rage as he heard the dreaded name. Something about just hearing Bret's name causing Judai to become possessive and angry, but why? "You're what?" Judai replied, sounding angrier then he meant.

Johan jumped in surprise at Judai's reaction. 'What? Did I say something wrong?' Johan thought with a shock. "I'm… Um… going to… Bret house for New Years," Johan said nervously as he studied Judai. Sometimes Judai's demeanor changed from calm to anger whenever Bret's name was mentioned. "Are you okay?" Johan asked as he turned his head the side.

Judai fought the rage he felt as he noticed the concerned look on his best friend's face. "Yeah…! I'm fine," Judai replied as he rubbed his eyes with is hand in an appetent to collect himself. There was an awkward pause as Johan studied Judai a bit more. "Listen Johan, if that guy ever does anything to you, let me know and I will put him straight!" Judai suddenly said without thinking.

Johan's eye widened in surprise as he heard the words come from Judai's mouth. 'Is he worried about me? But why? Could he be jealous for some reason?' Johan thought as he tried to think of something to say. "Why would Bret do… anything…? Judai, Bret and I are just friends…." Johan said with a giggle as he examined the jealous look on Judai's face. "What? Are you jealous or something?" Johan asked playfully as he tried to get a better look at Judai's expression.

"WHAT?! NO!" Judai shouted a little too loudly. He felt his cheeks go a bit red with a mix of frustration and embarrassment. 'Why would I be jealous of him!? So what if he is going to spend time with my Johan!" Judai thought as he tried to control these strange feelings. "Listen, I just…" Judai started to say as he tried to control the red in his cheeks. "He just…. I don't trust him is all," Judai finally said as he looked away from Johan in an attempt to further collect himself.

Johan smiled widely at the way Judai was acting. He leaned in closer as he tried to make eye contact with Judai again. "Hey, don't worry. No one will ever be able to replace you, okay! Not even Bret," Johan said in an attempt to reassure Judai that he had no need to be jealous.

Judai felt his heart and stomach both do crazy flips as he listened to Johan. He then turned his head to Johan and accidentally made eye contact with Johan's reassuring soft green gaze. His stomach did another crazy flip yet again; as his brown eyes got lost in the pool of Johan's comforting bright green stare. For a moment he could barely breath as he tried to find his voice. "I..." was all Judai could get out as he desperately tried to find his voice. The two exchanged glances not speaking a word, both lost in their own thoughts.

The two boys jumped when they heard a loud sound from down the hall, breaking their eye contact. "Well, I don't want to keep you," Johan said as he collected himself and situated his keys. "You probably still need to pack and stuff," he then turned and shoved his key into the lock.

Judai looked up at the ceiling, away from Johan, and casually scratched the back of his head. "Y-Yeah, packing, right," Judai replied as he tried to erase all the strange feeling he had felt in the past 5 minutes.

Johan unlocked the door and opened it up. He stepped into the doorway in an attempted to keep the door from closing so that he could bid Judai a goodnight. "Well, um, thank you for today Judai! It was the best Christmas ever…" Johan said with a sweet smile as he tried to control his racing heart.

"Yeah… I'm glad you liked it… I had a good time too… and thank you for the wonderful gift," Judai replied as he tried to sound normal, his heart was beating madly against his chest too.

The two boys started into each other's eyes yet again, both not wanting to say goodbye. The pain from earlier overtook Johan's mind and body yet again as he looked into Judai's strong brown stare. Johan badly wanted to leap from the door and hug Judai but refrained from doing so, his heart was heavy in his chest. "Well… Um, goodnight… and… Merry Christmas," Johan finally said as he broke eye contact with Judai.

"Um, yeah… you too," Judai lamely replied.

The two boys sat in awkward silence for a second, not looking at each other. "Bye," Johan whispered, breaking the silence. He then shot a sad look at Judai before shutting the door. He then hastily locked it. He slammed his back on the door, slid down to his butt and curled up into a pathetic ball. "Why? Why? Why?" He whispered to himself as he rested his face into his knees and wrapped his hands around his legs. 'Why does it hurt so badly? Where did this pain come from?' He thought as he tried to fight the unexplainable sad tears that threatened to spill from his face and down his cheeks. Today had felt like the best day of his life. He had spent such a wonderful time with Judai so why did he feel like crying? He knew why. He knew that he could not keep up with this 'just friends' act much longer. He was crumbling. He took a deep shaky breath in an attempt to gather his feelings. He then stood up and made his way to his side of the room.

XXX

"Bye," Judai quietly replied as he caught a glance of Johan's sad expression and the door slowly shut in his face. Judai stood outside of Johan's room for several seconds, just staring at his best friend's door. Where were all of these crazy feeling coming from? First he was happy, and then he was lonely, then angry and now sad! What was wrong with him!? Why was he feeling this way? And it only happened when he was around Johan, or heard Johan's name, or thought about what Johan was doing. Where was this all coming from?

He then felt a sudden strange feeling that snapped him out of his thoughts. He felt like he was being watched. He looked down the hall both ways to see if anyone was there, but there was no one. He then realized the feeling was coming from behind him. He turned around and was greeted by a door with a sign on it but nobody was there. The sign read 'Welcome to the Lair of Miguel Bubbles'. Judai turned his head as he studied the sign. He then looked through the crack in the door to see if anyone was home but the lights seemed to be off. "I need to sleep," Judai said as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. These feelings were taking a toll on him. He then made his way down the hall and to his dorm.

XXX

Judai looked around to find himself at the cake party yet gain. The frantic feeling of finding his teal cake overtook him as he realized where he was. 'Where is it!? Where is it!? I must get there before Bret!' he frantically thought as he looked for his cake. He then saw it at the end of an aisle with no Bret in sight. He felt a wave of joy spread thought his body as he skipped to his cake. 'Yes, YES!' he thought when he was a few meters away from the cake. Suddenly, he lost his footing and a feeling of dread overtook his being. 'No, no, NO!' his mind screamed as he fell to the floor. His eyes shut as he hit the floor. When he opened them, he found what he had been dreading. There Bret was yet again eating the last slice of teal cake.

"Hey, Happy New Year's Judai," Bret sang with a taunting smirk as he shoved the last bit of teal cake into his mouth. "Mmmm… so sweet… and is that cinnamon I taste?" Bret taunted as he swallowed the last bite.

Judai felt rage rush thought his body as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. He badly wanted to beat the smirk off of Bret's cocky face. Despite his efforts to get up he was unable to control any of his limbs. "Ahhhhhh!" He shouted in frustration as the thrashed around.

"JUDAI!" He heard someone shout his voice and he shot up in bed!

"WHAT!?" he shouted as he looked around his dark room. He then realized the voice was from Yubel.

"Judai, what has gotten into you?" Yubel asked her voice full of worry. For the past few months Judai would wake up from the same reoccurring nightmares. Though she tried to ignore it, she had been able to see the change in Judai's behavior towards Johan and it worried her. She was afraid Judai was going to get sick from it all.

"I… it was just a dream Yubel," Judai replied as he turned on the lamp on his side table. "You can go back to sleep."

"Judai, you know I don't sleep," Yubel said sounding a bit annoyed. She paused for a second before speaking again. "You know Judai, you can always talk to me if you need to…" she said in hopes to comfort the boy that meant the world to her. She cared about Judai and didn't like seeing him in such a mess.

"Yeah… Don't worry Yubel… I'm okay… probably just worried about traveling back home… plane rides exhaust me," Judai said lamely as he looked around his room yet again.

"If you say so…But remember that I am always here for you… okay," She said reassuringly.

"Thanks, Yubel," Judai said as he felt Yubels presence receded back into him. The feeling of rage towards Bret that he had felt during his dream had yet to fade, despite the reassurance form Yubel. 'Why do I feel this way? Why do I hate Bret so much?' Judai thought as he looked around his room. He then spotted the gift he got from Johan on the dresser next to his bed. He picked it up and opened the box. He pulled out the small Hane-Kuriboh figure from the box and looked at it. Then the words he heard earlier that evening from Johan echoed in his mind. 'No one will ever be able to replace you, okay! Not even Bret…' For some reasons these words erased all of the anger and sadness he had felt just moments ago. A sense of calmness overtook Judai as he smiled and looked at the keychain. Its delicate details glowed in the light from his lamp. He sighed again in content as he placed the keychain back into the box. He then put the box on the side table, turned off his lamp and rested his head on his pillow. He wondered where this calming feeling came from as he drifted off to sleep.

((And there you have it folks! Chapter 9! I hope it was all you wanted and more! It really did come out much longer then I meant it to be. I was going to have chapter 9 include New Years as well but it just did not fit! Chapter 10 will be about Johan's New Years! I will try to have it up by next week or sooner if I am lucky!

Also, I am needing to prepare for an upcoming con, Comiket, and will be prioritizing my cosplay over anything else until after the con. So for the next two weeks I may be slow with updating unless I get my sewing done faster than I expected. Just wanted to let you all know so you don't worry that I just stopped writing… though I am sure no one is really worried.

Also, thank you for all the wonderful reviews and follows. They all make me so happy. I love the passion coming from you all! Keep it up!

Anyways, everyone take care and see you next week!))

((I want to thank Judaisbutt for being my beta and helping me plan things out when I got lost.))


	11. Chapter 10

((So here is chapter 10. It was going to be part of chapter 9 until chapter 9 got long. I tried my best to make this as…. Enjoyable as possible despite the lack of Judai. Please enjoy))

(( I don't own Yugioh GX or any of the characters))

Chapter 10

After Judai left, Johan took a hot shower to clear his mind. He was still flustered over his unrequited feelings for Judai. The shower didn't really help Johan settle his feelings. All it did was give him time to reminisce the almost date he had with his crush. To Johan it was like a dream date. 'But to Judai it was just another day with his best friend,' Johan thought as he rinsed the soap from his soft teal hair. After his shower he put on his PJs and moseyed off to bed.

XXX

The next morning Johan woke from a deep sleep to find Ruby's face in his own, her deep gemlike eyes studying him as she sat on his chest. "Rubiii!" she squeaked when she saw that Johan's eyes were beginning to open.

"AH!" Johan shouted as he shot up in bed. This caused Ruby to fly off his chest and roll to the foot of the bed. Johan had not expected to wake up with another's face in his own. He held his hands to his chest as he looked around his room.

"Rubiii!" Ruby meeped as she oriented herself at the foot of Johan's bed.

Johan then realized what had happened. "Oh, Ruby! I'm sorry. You surprised me," Johan apologized as he watched his dear Ruby sit up and shoot him a sad look for being flung across the bed. "Aw, come on girl. It was an accident! Come here," Johan cooed as he tried to coax Ruby to his lap.

It didn't take much coaxed on Johan's part to get Ruby in his lap. Ruby's most favorite place in the world was anywhere on Johan. "Biii!" Ruby squeaked as she waddled into Johan's lap. She then twirled around three times before settling herself down in his lap.

Johan smiled softly at Ruby as he stroked her back. "Ya know girl… I thought a good night sleep would make me feel better…. But it hasn't," Johan said after a few moments of silence. "I just… I don't know what to do," he whispered as his heart sank a bit. After yesterday Johan knew he could not pretend to just be friends with Judai anymore. He knew he was falling apart. The little exchange on the cliff woke Johan up to the fact that he had been lying to, not only Judai, but to himself. But deep down, Johan is scared and unsure of whether he should tell Judai. He loves Judai so much that the idea of not having him around scared Johan to death. "What am I going to do?" Johan whispered yet again as he tried to fight back the pain in his heart.

"Rubiiii," Ruby said as she shot a concerned look at Johan. Ruby knew something was troubling her master and that it had something to do with Judai but could not quite understand what was going on. She was a carbuncle, and carbuncles don't let their emotions and relationships get this messy. Ruby often just did as she pleased without a care in the world. "Rubiiii!" she said yet again when she saw the forlorn expression on Johan's face. If she could speak, she would tell her master to just tell Judai how he felt. She would not be surprised if Judai shared the same feelings as Johan. In Ruby's opinion, Johan was the most handsome human ever. Ruby then decided to lick Johan's hand in an attempt to comfort the boy.

Johan could not help but smile as he watched his dear Ruby's attempt to comfort him. "You're right girl, I need to be strong," Johan said as he took a deep shaky breath, in an attempt to calm himself. He would not be seeing Judai till school started up again. Maybe he will be able to find a solution to his problem during that time.

Johan sat with Ruby for a while before getting out of bed and starting his day. He spent the day mostly alone. Everyone he knew had gone away for the New Year and he was the only one left. As the day went on he started to feel better about his situation. It still hurt to think of Judai but not quite as bad. There was a bit of hope in his heart that was able to keep him going.

XXX

The next day Johan woke early and packed up some clothes and other items for Bret's house. He was excited to spend the time with his roommate instead of spending it all alone. Bret was always a good distraction for Johan. Johan even considered asking Bret for some advice on how to confess to Judai. Bret seemed more experienced with this type of thing then Johan was. Before long, Johan's lime green suitcase was packed and he was ready to go. Johan then munched on snacks and watched TV to help pass the time.

At around noon the door burst open. "LONG TIME NO SEE, DOLL FACE," Bret said as he leaped into the room, the door slamming behind him.

"AAAH!" Johan shouted, almost pissing himself. "Bret! You startled me!" he huffed once he realized it was just his crazy roommate.

"So, Doll Face, are you ready to head out?" Bret asked as he went over to Johan and rubbed his soft teal hair.

"Yeah, give me a sec. I want to use the toilet before we leave," Johan replied as he swatted Bret's hand away from his head.

After Johan was fully ready, the two boys headed down to Bret's car. Bret drove a deep purple 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid. The inside of the car was just as flash as he outside of the car. The seats were made of leather and the care was pimped with the latest sound systems. Despite the fact that Johan had driven with Bret over a dozen times, he was always amazed at the beauty of the car. They packed the car and headed out.

"So, Doll Face, how was your Christmas?" Bret asked as he drove, he would glance over at Johan every now and then.

"It was nice…" Johan replied with a pink blush across his cheeks. He tried to fight back the pain that overwhelmed him every time he thought about his crush.

"Oh really? Just nice? If it was 'just nice' then why are your cheeks so pink?" Bret teased as he half studied Johan, half paid attention to the road.

"I just spent the day with Judai," Johan said sadder then he meant to. To Johan, it was the best day of his life. He got to spend the whole day with his crush, but the day had also revealed to Johan that he was falling apart.

Bret shot a concerned look at his forlorn roommate. 'Why is he so sad? He spent the day with his crush…' he thought as he tried to think of a way to cheer up the teal haired boy. "Hey, are you hungry!? Kuz I sure am. How about some Out n In burgers?" Bret suggested in an attempt to change the subject.

Johan shot out of his negative thoughts and looked at Bret. His roommate had a big grin on his face but his eyes were full of concern. A sudden feeling of guilt and shame over took Johan as he realized how down he must have seemed. Johan normally did not like when his emotions worried others. 'Come on Johan! Get it together! Stop being such a Debby Downer!' Johan told himself as he tried to cover the pain he was feeling. He then turned to Bret and shot him a semi forced smile. "Yeah! Out n In sounds great," Johan finally replied, sounding so cheerful that it was obviously fake.

Bret studied Johan with his yellow eyes. He could tell something was very wrong with his roommate but felt now was not the time to pry. He didn't want to have to deal with a crying Johan while driving. He wanted to be somewhere where he could _properly_ comfort Johan if need be it. "Great, there is one up ahead. Should we get it to go and eat in the car, or do you want to eat at the restaurant," Bret asked with a smile.

"Bret, eating while driving is not safe," Johan scolded, as he shot a stern but playful look at Bret. "Let's eat in. I spend all day yesterday locked up in my room alone, so I need to get out a bit," he said with a fake pout.

"Awww, was Doll Face lonely without me?" Bret asked as he poked Johan's cheek.

"Bret! Both hands on the wheel," Johan snapped as he swatted his roommates hand away.

"Yes Mother!" Bret taunted as he pulled his hand back and playfully placed his hands in the ten o'clock two o'clock position on the steering wheel.

Johan could not help but giggle at Bret's silly actions. Despite the fact that the pain was still heavy in his heart, being around a light hearted person, like Bret, really lifted Johan's spirits.

Once at the fast food restaurant, Johan ordered a double cheese burger with fries and a strawberry shake, while Bret ordered a triple cheese burger with fries and a chocolate shake. The two boys chatted and ate. By the end of lunch Johan was feeling much better about life. They then got back into Bret's car and headed off yet again. The drive took about two hours and the boys spent most of the time talking about what they did over break and joked about things they saw as they drove.

"Okay, we are almost there," Bret said as he turned down a street called Pacific Heights.

Johan was amazed by what he saw when they turned down the street. The houses were huge; some of them even looked like mini castles. All the houses were beautiful and magnificent with perfect landscapes to match. Johan did not realize it but his mouth nearly hung to the floor as he looked out the window. 'Bret must be joking,' Johan thought as they passed a big white house with a fountain in front.

Bret then pulled into the biggest house Johan had yet to see. It was located at the top of the hill. It was a big Victorian style cream building with ivy delicately climbing up one side of it. The house had to have been at least three stories high and was three times as wide as a normal house. The landscape was flawless and there were bush's cut into the shapes of animals. "Well, here we are. Welcome to my home," Bret said as he opened his door and got out.

Johan sat silent in his seat as he looked up at the huge house, no mansion. "B-Bret is this… real…?" Johan dumbly asked, wondering if he was dreaming.

"What do you mean 'is this real'…Yeah, it's real," Bret said in a sarcastic sassy tone. "Now get out so I can lock the car," Bret said as he pulled Johan's suitcase out of the trunk.

"No need to get snappy," Johan replied as he stumbled out of the car. He knew that Bret's family was rich, but he had no idea that they were _this_ rich.

"Come on, let's go inside! My mom is probably waiting. She is excited to meet you," Bret said as he started to guide Johan down the path to the entrance.

"Yeah…" was all Johan could get out as he gawked up at the building.

"Come on in," Bret said as he opened the door to his house for Johan to enter.

Johan shot an unsure look at Bret as if to say 'is this for real?' yet again.

"Oh come on Johan! Just get in so we don't let too many bugs in," Bret snapped.

"Okay, Okay!" Johan said as he entered the building. Bret gave Johan a playful pat on the behind as he passed causing Johan to turn and glare at him.

"So, what do you think?" Bret asked as he dragged Johan's suitcase into the entry way and shut the door.

Johan took in the entryway of the house. Thought the exterior of the building was old-fashioned, the interior was quite modern. The floors were made of fine wood and glistened in the sunlight that came through the windows. To his left was a room with fancy furniture and a big window that overlooked the yard. To his right was a closed door. In front of him was a hallway and a grand staircase. Everything in the house was immaculate and clean. Not a single thing seemed to be out of place and it sort of made Johan nervous. "It's… It's…" was all Johan could get out as he looked around the entryway.

"It's pretty sweet huh?" Bret whispered into Johan's ear.

The feeling of Bret's breath on his ear caused a shiver to travel down Johan's spine. "I-Is it really okay for me to be here?" Johan asked as he tried to shake off the shiver.

Bret stood up and patted Johan hard of the back. "Of course it is! You're my Doll Face so you are always welcome here," Bret said as he passed Johan, giving him another pat on the back. "HEY MOM! YOU HOME!?" Bret shouted as he ripped off his shoes and tossed them anywhere.

"Oh, Sweet Pea, is that you?" a high pitched girly voice called form the hallway.

Bret then turned to Johan, who was still standing at the door. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my mom and then I can show you around the house," Bret said as he took Johan's suitcase.

"Yeah… right," Johan said trying not to sound too nervous. He then ripped off his boots, placed them nicely by the door, and followed Bret.

Bret led Johan down the long hallway. There were a few doors along the hallway that were closed and many pictures decorated the walls, some were paintings while others were portraits of people. The hall emptied Johan and Bret into what looked to be the living room. There was a giant screen TV hanging from the wall. There were also two huge gray couched that looked like they could sit five people each. One Couch was in for of the TV and the other was to the left of the TV. To the right of the TV were two hug red cushy recliner chairs. The chairs and couches looked soft, cushy and heavenly. On the chair lay a medium sized dog. She was a beautiful little Shetland Sheepdog. The dog lifted its head and wagged its tail when I caught site of the boys. Behind the living room was the kitchen. There was a marble counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. Johan noticed that the kitchen had another island counter made of marble in the middle of it. There were also two huge ovens plastered to the walls, and huge stove with another oven under it. There was also a nice big skink and many wooden cupboards all around. Next to the kitchen was a nice dining table made from cherry wood. The best part of this area was the hug windows in both the kitchen and the living room. The two windows were separated by and door that lead to the backyard. The two windows over looked that yard and the yard overlooked the bay. From where they sat, they had a picture perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay. Johan's breath caught in his throat as he took in the spectacular view. He also noticed that here was a hot tub and a pool in the back yard.

"Oh, Sweet Pea, is this your little friend you were telling us about. He is just too adorable," came the high-pitched voice of Bret's mother.

Johan turned to see that she was sitting at the dining table sipping on a drink and reading a magazine. She was a tall, tan, thin lady. Her hair was the same purple color as Bret's and was style down to her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. Her eyes were a dark brown and rounder then Bret's eyes. Despite it being winter, she wore an expensive designer sundress and had a pair of sunglasses on her head. She had on house slippers at the moment, probably to keep the floors nice. "Yeah, Mom, this is Johan, my roommate. Johan, this is my mom," Bret said as he introduced the two.

Johan stepped forward to introduce himself. "H-Hello, my name is Johan Anderson. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Suave," Johan said with a polite smile.

"Oh aren't you just precious," Mrs. Suave said as she looked over Johan. "I knew my son had good taste in friends, he gets it from me," she said with a laugh at the end. "Oh, and please, do call me Janet! Mrs. Suave is my mother in law," she joked as she swirled her drink in her hand.

Johan did not really know what to make of Bert's mom. She seemed like a nice lady, just a bit flamboyant. "Um… thank you for letting me stay at your house for New Year, Janet," Johan said politely but it came out sort of awkward.

"Oh, dear, aren't you cute! It's fine, just fine! We are so happy to have you," Janet said as she took a small sip of her drink, her voice would rise and fall as she spoke. "Now, Bret, why don't you show dear Johan around the house. I would love to join you two but there is a charity even going on at the country club that I simply must attend," she sang as she twirled her hand's in the air. "I won't be back until late and neither will your father, so you two can do as you wish for dinner. I can order Franz to make you something or you two can eat out," Janet finished as she closed the magazine on the table. Johan wondered who Franz was.

"We are going to eat out I think," Bret said as he looked to Johan to make sure it was okay. Johan nodded to show that he was fine with it.

"Splendid, Sweet Pea," Janet said as she stood up from her chair. "Oh! And Dear Johan, please DO make yourself at home. You know what they say, 'mi casa es su casa'" she sang.

"Oh, um, thank you," Johan said, trying not to sound too nervous. Johan was normally never this nervous around people but something about being in a mansion got to him.

"Oh no worries dear, no worries," Janet said as she passed the boys and gathered some items. "I must leave now, so you two please watch the house and don't eat too much greasy foods," she instructed as she made her way down the hall and out the door.

Bret turned to Johan with a nervous look. "Sorry… she's a bit…." Bret said, his eyebrows scrunched up a bit.

"Haha, I can see where you get it," Johan said as he playfully nudged Bret in the side. "She was very nice," Johan said in an attempt to show Bret that he really did like his mom.

Bret let out a breath that he did not know he was holding. "How about I show you the rest of the house?" Bret suggested.

"Sure, and first you can point me to the bathroom," Johan joked as he did a small 'I have to pee' dance.

The two boys laughed as Bret lead Johan to the bathroom. Just like everything else in the house, the bathroom was extravagant, but Johan didn't really care. After reliving himself, Johan followed Bret around the house. On the first story there were only a few huge rooms. There was the kitchen, two bathrooms, an office, the living room, and the sitting room by the front door. There was also a huge garage. On the second floor there was a workout room, an office, an art room, a game room, two guest bedrooms and three bathrooms. The third and final floor housed the master bedroom, where Bret's parent slept, a few guest rooms, and three bathrooms. The last room Johan got to see what Bret's room, located on the third floor. Johan was amazed at how big Bret's rooms was. It was three times the size of his own room back in Norway. It had a huge king sized bed in the middle of the room. Behind the bed were huge windows that over looked the bay. To the left there was a three person couch that sat in front of a large flat screen TV. By the TV was a tall bookshelf full of random stuff. To the right of the room was a desk with a big computer. There was also a bathroom and a walk-in closet. The walls had shelves with various things decorating them.

"Bret! Your house is HUUUGE," Johan gasped with wide green eyes. He still could not get over the size of Bret's house. It had never occurred to him that Bret's family was this rich. "And…. And…. And," Johan stuttered as he tried to find the right words.

"And what…?" Bret asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Your room…"Johan carried on looking around the clean room.

"What about it?" Bret asked as he leaned on his wall and shot a cocky smile at Johan.

"It's…. It's…. So…. So clean," Johan said as he turned to Bret with unbelieving eyes. "Why, can't you keep our dorm this clean?" Johan joked with a pleading stare.

Bret almost fell to the floor when he heard Johan's replay. "Whaaat!? Is that all you have to say?" Bret snapped as he tried not to laugh at his roommate's goofy expression.

"But really, you can't possibly be the one who cleans this room," Johan said as he fully turned to Bret and lifted an eyebrow.

"There may or may not be a maid who gives me a hand," Bret joked as he avoided Johan's stare.

The two boys spent the rest of the day relaxing in Bret's room, playing video games, reading comics and watching TV. In the evening they went out to a local restaurant and had dinner. After that, they went for a dip in the hot tub.

By bedtime Johan's worries had been long forgotten. It was nice to get away from the stress and just relax. Johan's guest bedroom was connected to Bret's room. At the moment Johan was lying in a king-size bed, snuggle deep into the fluffy covers. He was exhausted from the day's events and was more than ready for a goodnight sleep. He rolled onto his side and looked out the window. He spotted the moon and it occurred to him that Judai was also in San Francisco. Johan wondered if Judai was looking up at the moon now, and if so, what was he thinking about. Johan had decided to tell Bret about his predicament and ask for advice. Bret would know what to do, he was experience. Maybe there still was a chance at a relationship with Judai. The thought of Judai brought a smile to Johan's lips as he drifted off to sleep.

XXX

Johan and Bret spend the next few days until the party hanging around Bret's house and exploring San Francisco. On the 28th, Bret took Johan to Fisherman's Wharf and they shopped around, ate clam chowder and saltwater taffy, and enjoyed walking along the water. Despite how loud they were, Johan enjoyed watching the sea lions zip through the water around the wharf. Johan had a feeling that Judai would probably enjoy watching these crazy sea creatures as well. At one point, Johan swore that one of the sea lions had looked him right in the eye and stuck its tongue out at him.

On the 29th, Bret took Johan to the 5 story card shop that Judai had told Johan about. It was more than just your average card shop. The first two floors were an actual shop that sold cards, duel disks and things of that nature. The third floor was somewhat of a showcase that displayed expensive or rare cards as well as the latest duel technology. The fourth floor was a room set up for people to duel if they wanted to. Johan dueled a few people. When the shop owner found out that Johan held the Gem Beast deck, he begged Johan to let him put it on display. Johan politely declined and for the rest of their stay at the shop, he made sure that his deck was with him at all times. The last floor was a small café that sold drinks and lunch foods. It was much like Risa's café except more commercial and the food was not as good.

Johan also had the opportunity to meet more of Bret's family. Bret's mother was a very busy lady who seemed to care a lot about her image. Despite her narcissistic ways, she was also quite nice. Johan noticed that she spent almost every day at some sort of charity even. Whether she had a job or not, Johan didn't know. Johan also got to meet Bret's father for a brief moment. He was a tall man with strict golden-brown eyes. His hair was short and gray. He was almost three heads taller than Johan. Johan also noticed that Mr. Suave never seemed to smile. Johan could not help but feel a bit intimidated by the man but found that he was not as scary as he looked. Much like Johan's parents, Mr. Suave never seemed to hang around the house too long. It turns out that Bret's father is a CEO of some big toy company and spent the majority of his time at the office. After finding this out, Johan felt a bit more connected to Bret. They both had busy parents who often could not find time to care for their own child, though Bret's parents were a lot less invasive in Bret's education and future then Johan's were. Johan also found out that Bret was an only child, thought Bret's mother often treated their Sheltie as if she were Bret's younger sister. Bret's family also had a cat that kept mostly to itself and didn't seem too fond of Johan.

At the moment Johan and Bret were sitting on the couch in the living room watching some documentary called 'The Ancient Ocean' on Animal Planet. Johan was only half paying attention as he checked his phone. Bret's dog, Lilly, had taken a liking to Johan almost immediately and had made it a point to sit in Johan's lap any chance she got. Johan could tell that this bothered Ruby a lot but there was nothing he could to about it. As Johan fiddle with his phone, Lilly wined for his attention. Johan gave her a pat on the head as he opened his email inbox. He noticed right away that he had a new email. It was from Judai. He hastily opened the email to read what it said.

_Hey Johan,_

_How are you doing? How is San Francisco? I hope Bret had not done anything to you! If he does, remember to let me know, so I can pound his face in._

'Why would Bret do anything to me?' Johan thought as he read the opening to the email. He then read on.

_Anyways, Sho wanted me to say 'hi' to you. I saw him yesterday along with Kaiser. They both seem well and Kaiser said he wanted to have another match against you sometime, so watch out!_

_At the moment it is New Year's Eve for me. California is a day behind right? Tomorrow I plan to meet with everyone, including Manjoume, and we are going to visit a temple to make a new year's wish. I think it is totally bogus but everyone is making me go anyways. Fubuki said something about it being romantic… What should I wish for? Maybe another great year with my best friend…_

Johan blushed a bit as he read this part of the email. 'His New Year's wish is to be with me,' Johan thought as he tried to control his emotions.

_Anyways, despite seeing everyone, I really miss having you around. You always know how to have a fun time unlike some people… Manjoume… Anyways, keep your schedule open for when I come back. Who knows, maybe we can go to that aquarium and see those otters you talked about._

_Have a nice New Year and don't let Bret do anything strange to you!_

_Your best friend,_

_Judai~_

Johan could barely control the beating of his heart as he closed out the email. Without thinking, he held his phone to his heart and shot a lovesick look at the TV. 'He said he missed me,' Johan thought as he mindlessly stared at the TV，not caring that his cheeks went from ivory to soft pink. 'Maybe I _should_ tell him my feelings…' Johan thought as his eyes mindlessly drifted down to Lilly, who was looking up at him with big brown eyes. He ruffled her long silky hair as the email ran though his head again.

Then a thought occurred to Johan. Johan was treating this as if Judai had confessed, but he hadn't. He had just sent Johan an email to say 'hi' and nothing more. Johan felt his joy sink a bit as this new realization hit. He felt embarrassed at the fact that he let his feelings get in the way of his logic. Was he so love sick now, that anything Judai did seemed to be a confession? A feeling of dread came over Johan. 'What if he were to say something like this to me in person, and what if I took it the wrong way? What if I then did something stupid and scared Judai off?' Johan illogically thought as he stoked Lilly a bit harder then he meant. Johan didn't know what to do. Half of him wanted to confess to Judai so badly but the other half was too scared and was almost sure Judai would leave. Another part of Johan had an inkling that maybe Judai liked him back, but his logical half told him that he was being crazy and Judai would never like him that way. He felt at war with himself. Just the thought of Judai brought such a rush of emotions to Johan that all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sob. Johan knew he had to do something soon, before he goes crazy. He then looked up from Lilly and over to Bret. "Um… Hey… Uh… Bret…?" Johan said as he looked over to his roommate.

Bret had noticed Johan's strange behavior in the last 2 minutes. At first Johan was spaced out, and then he looked at his phone. After reading whatever was on his phone, Johan's cheeks went pink and he had a dopy look in his green eyes. And not soon after, the dopy look was erased and changed to utter despair. "What is it Doll Face?" Bret asked as his yellow eyes studied his dear roommate.

"Well, can I ask you for…some…advice…?" Johan asked as he squinted his eyes a bit and looked to the side.

Bret had a feeling that this all probably had to do with a certain brown-haired duelist. "Sure Doll Face, what is it?" Bret replied, trying to act cool.

Johan froze for a second, trying to find the right words. How was he going to explain his predicament to Bret? He didn't even know where to start. Should he start with his feeling's, or talk about how he thinks Judai may like him back but at the same time doesn't think that. Johan took a deep breath and without thinking, he started to talk. "Hey, Bret… Have you ever, ya know, had someone in your life…. And all you ever do is think about them… and when you are with them you are super happy… but at the same time being with them causes a pain in your chest… and … and…" Johan said this without thinking and found that he was getting lost in his explanation.

"Woah! Hold up a minute Doll Face, you aren't talking about Judai, are you?" Bret asked as he tried to comprehend what Johan was thinking.

Johan shot Bret a guilty smile and nodded his head slowly. "Yeah… Guess I am," Johan replied.

Bret then shooed Lilly off the couch to get closer to Johan. Lilly hopped off of Johan's lap and shot Bret a very offended look before walking off to the kitchen. "Okay, Doll Face, what did _he _do to you this time…?" Bret asked, sounding more serious then he meant to. Over the past few months, Bret could not help but become a little emotional when it came to Johan. At first, he found Johan's crush on Judai to be cute and enduring, but recently the whole ordeal has started to piss him off. Seeing Johan so discouraged all the time was becoming hard for Bret to watch.

Johan was a bit surprised at how Bret was acting. He could tell that Bret was trying to keep it cool but Bret's yellow eyes had a seriousness to them that Johan had never seen before. "Well, it's not really him… more me?" Johan said as he looked to the side, unable to keep eye contact with the sharp yellow eyes that were studying him.

"What do you mean?" Bret replied, sounding stricter then he meant.

"Well, recently, I can't be around him without acting and feeling funny," Johan answered as he shot a quite glance at Bret. "I mean, before I could hide my feelings for him, but recently… I get this painful feeling in my chest whenever I think about him. Part of me wants to tell him so bad, that it's starting to physically hurt… but…" Johan's sad desperate eyes drifted down to his lap.

"But what…" Bret replied in a deep husky voice as he scooted even close to Johan.

"But part of me is scared…" Johan finished as he examined the palms of his hands. The two sat silently for a second, not saying a word. "Bret," Johan finally spoke, looking up from his hand and back to his roommate. "Should I just tell him…?" Johan asked. His bright green eyes were sadder and more desperate then Bret had ever seen them before.

Something inside Bret snapped as his strong yellow stare locked with Johan's green sad eyes and without thinking, he pounced on top of his roommate, pinning Johan to the couch. Both of Johan's arms were plastered to the side of his body while one leg was slightly bent and the other one hung off the couch. Bret, on the other hand, was standing over Johan in the same fashion that he had done when they had been watching all those Christmas movies, except this time Bret's face was not so close to Johan's. Johan's sad green eyes went from despair to shock and confusion as he found himself pinned to the couch. "I don't get it!" Bret said, sounding more frustrated then he meant to as he stared down at the boy that was causing him to lose his cool.

"B-Bret," Johan whispered as he tried to comprehend what was going on.

"How can _he_ not see _it_?" Bret hissed as his hand balled into fists beside Johan's head. "Something so good is right under his nose and _he_ just chooses to ignore_ it_!" Bret nearly shouted the last two words as his stare went from anger to desperation.

Johan sat pinned under Bret in complete utter shock. This was not what he had expected at all. What was Bret talking about? "B-Bret," Johan whispered as he shot a concerned look at his roommate, his heart pounded madly against his chest.

Without thinking, and fueled by emotion, Bret leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Johan's decedent lips. The kiss only lasted a second before Bret pulled back slightly, his lips a few centimeters above Johan's. "Johan… You deserve better…" Bret whispered in a sad voice that Johan had never heard him use before.

Just then the house phone range causing both boys to jump. Without looking at Johan, Bret pulled himself up and walked to the kitchen where the phone was located. He shook his head, let out a deep breath and picked up the receiver. "Yellow~!" He said into the phone in his normal 'it's all good' voice.

Johan slowly pulled himself up and sat on the couch. He stared blankly at the TV as he listened to Bret's deep voice on the phone. 'D-Did he just… kiss me?' Johan's mind screamed at he held a hand to his lips and blushed like a mad man. 'But why?'

"Hey!" Bret said to Johan as he hung up the phone. "I need to run out and get something for mom... Why don't you wait here with Lilly," Bret said as he pulled on his jacket, too nervous to look at Johan.

"Uh, Okay," Johan replied, just as nervous.

"Okay, then, I will be back soon, so just relax while I'm gone," Bret replied as he gathered his bag and keys.

"Uh… Yeah… Be safe," Johan said quietly, not looking at Bret.

"Okay, be back soon… Don't set anything on fire while I am gone," Bret joked as he walked out the door.

And with that Bret was gone. Johan let out a big breath of air that he had no clue he had been holding. Without thinking he flopped down on the couch and stared into space. 'What was that?' Johan thought as he rolled onto his side and faced the TV. His legs were bent a bit and he was curled up in a crescent shape. The credits to the show they had been watching were slowly rolling across the TV screen. Johan felt so lost; like he was out at sea on some deserted island with no escape. Just then Lilly hopped onto the cough and curled up by Johan stomach. Johan looked down at the dog and patted her head. "Oh Lilly, what should I do? I'm now even more confused than I was before," Johan wined as he looked to Lilly for an answer. The dog shot him an empathetic stairs and gave him a small lick on the chin. Johan could not help but smile sadly as he returned her lick with a pat on the head. He then fully rested his head onto the couch, his mind so full of questions, that it now felt almost blank. He then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

When Bret came back home, he found Johan asleep on the couch. He could not help but smile when as he looked at the teal-haired boy. He set the bag he was carrying down on the kitchen counter before strolling on over to the sleeping Johan. He bent down beside Johan's face and examined the sleeping boy. Johan was sleeping soundly; a delicate smile graced his ivory face. Johan's skin and hair glowed softly in the light of the setting sun. Bret gently brushed Johan's soft hair out of his eyes so that he could get a better look. "What have you done to me, Doll Face?" Bret whispered, his eyes softening as he looked at the sleeping boy. Without thinking, he leaned in slowly, his lips slowly getting closer to Johan's soft pink lips. Bret hesitated when his lips were only a centimeters from Johan's.

"Mmmm," Johan moaned in his sleep. "Mmm… love…you… too…. Judai…" Johan mumbled as his lips slipped into an even sweeter smile.

Without kissing Johan, Bret pulled back, his heart almost sinking. He shot a forlorn look at the boy in front of him as he stood up. "What is wrong with you Suave? Pull it together," he mumbled to himself as he shook his face in his hands. He sighed deeply and without so much as glancing at Johan, he strolled back into the kitchen.

40 minutes later, Johan woke up to find Bret in the kitchen making dinner. Johan felt like he had been hit by a truck. He was groggy and confused as to what the time was. "What time is it?" Johan mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the sleep form his eyes. He looked out the window to see that it was dark.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Bret joked as he looked over the counter at Johan. "It's almost seven," Bret answered as he popped a frozen pizza into the oven. "I hope you are alright with frozen pizza," Bret said as he glanced over at Johan.

Johan stretched again as he yawned. "Pizza sounds great!" Johan said as he stretched out his arms as far as he could. His stomach then growled loudly causing him to blush.

"It will be done soon, so no worries," Bret said as he opened a bag of lettuce and dumped it into a bowl.

Johan nodded as he looked around the room trying to remember what he had been doing before falling asleep. He remembered watching this boring documentary and he got a wonderful email from Judai and then…. And then Johan remembered. Bret had kissed him. Johan felt a pink tint come to his cheeks as he awkwardly looked around the room. 'Why had he done that…?' Johan thought as his eyes fixed on one of Lilly's dog toys. 'Was he trying to comfort me…?' Johan thought. He then turned and shot a quick look at Bret. Bret seemed to be acting normal at the moment.

Bret then caught Johan staring at him. "Hey, are you going to just sit there and stare at me or are you going to help me with dinner?" Bret joked as he started to toss the salad.

"Oh, right!" Johan said as he shot up from the couch. 'Well, he seems normal,' Johan thought as he walked over to the kitchen. 'It was probably just an accident or something,' Johan finally decided as he entered the kitchen. 'No need to panic.'

The two boys then work together to get dinner done. They both acted as if the exchange from earlier never happened. After dinner they took a dip in the hot tub. Once they were done with that they watched a movie before going to bed. They decided to get to bed early to make sure that they were well rested for the part the next day.

XXX

At around 10 the next day, Johan woke to find Ruby staring at him as he slept. This time Johan did not scream. Since his Christmas outing with Judai, Johan would always wake up with Ruby watching him. He assumed that she was just worried about him. "Good morning Ruby," Johan said as he yawned and sat up. He then patted his lap to coax Ruby over.

Ruby shot a stern look at Johan and did not budge. "RUBI!" she shouted, her stern look did not falter.

"Woah! What's your problem Ruby," Johan said as he leaned his head back a bit.

"Bi-Bi-RUBI," Ruby replied as she paced back and forth on his bed. She then walked over to him and sniffed his lap. After she gave his lap a good sniffing, she looked up at him as if to say 'you have been cheating on me!'

Johan returned Ruby's glare with a confused one. 'What's got her panties in a bunch,' Johan thought as he looked at his little Ruby. It then dawned on him that she was probably jealous of Lilly. With a soft apologetic smile, he reached down and gave Ruby a scratch behind the ear. "Aw come on girl, don't be mad. She is Bret's family pet, pushing her away would be rude," Johan said in a sorry tone.

"Rubi…" Rudy squeaked before aggressively jumping into Johan's lap and rolling around as if to mark him with her scent. Johan giggled as he watched his sweet little Ruby rolling around in his lap. Ruby then settled down. Despite the fact that Johan wanted to get up, he decided to let the little gem beast rest in his lap for a while. He took the time to check his phone but discovered that there were no new emails or messages.

Johan sighed as he looked down at his resting Ruby. "What should I do Ruby. I tried asking Bret for advice but that obviously didn't work… What do you think, girl? Should I tell him? Should I just tell Judai?" Johan asked as he looked down at Ruby and stroked her back.

Ruby looked up at Johan with a sleepy content face. "Rubiii," she squeaked as she let out a big yawn.

"Yeah, your right. I should just try to enjoy the day… It is New Year's Eve and I would not want to dampen the party with a bad mood," Johan finally said with a content sigh. He sat for another few minutes before getting up to start his day. Ruby put up a bit of a fuss when he first tried to get her to move, but after a while she reluctantly complied.

The day was a busy day for everyone in the Suave house. Bret's mother was a very hands on lady. Despite the fact that the family had both maids and cooks, she liked to have more of a hands on approach when it came to her parties. She made everyone in the family pitch in with decorating and food making. Johan had been put on the cooking team since his cooking skills were superb. Bret had been recruited to decorating the first floor of the house and the back yard. Bret's father was away in the office but had promised to be back in time for the countdown and Mrs. Suave spent the whole time marching around the house barking orders and making sure everything went according to her _vision_. Bret seemed annoyed at his mother's actions but Johan found it all quite amusing.

At around one o'clock, the two boys took a break and had a snack. They had both skipped lunch and were feeling quite hunger. "Wow, your mom really gets into these parties," Johan commented as he dipped a tortilla chip into some salsa and shoved it into his mouth.

"Tell me about it," Bret said sounding a bit exasperated. "You should see her on the 4th of July! Our house pretty much turns into a big, glittering, American flag," he then added with a chuckle.

The two boys sat and chatted for a while before Bret's mother found them and hounded them to get back to work, she mostly hounded Bret. At around six o'clock, after all of the preparations were complete, the two boys took a rest on the couch. They both sprawled out across it exhausted. The first floor of the house was decorated from top to bottom with all sorts of streamers and signs. The back yard and front yard were just as extravagant as the inside of the house but included various flashing fairy-lights strewn everywhere. Johan had made enough food to feed thousands of people. His body was hurting form all of the hard work. He looked at his hands as he took a deep breath. "Man, how many people are coming to this party?" Johan asked as he flopped his hands back down.

"Everyone and their dog!" Bret replied as he rubbed his own back. "They are always this big and exhausting. And she always invites a bunch of people I don't know," Bret pouted as he slumped down a bit more on the couch.

Johan laugh at his roommate's childlike behavior. "So, your mom mentioned fireworks today," Johan said, his eyes widening with excitement. He loved fireworks.

"Oh, yeah, we always have them, at every New Year party," Bret replied as he sat up to look at Johan better. "They are always set to go off at the stroke of midnight, but last year something went wrong and they went off five seconds before the stroke of midnight. My mom went ballistic. She even flipped a table that some people were sitting at," Bret said as he started to laugh. Johan joined in at the thought of Bret's mom flipping a table.

At around 9 o'clock people started to show up at the house. Keeping his promises, Bret's father showed up at about 10 o'clock. He spent most of his time at the party moseying around the house with a very bored expression on his face and talked to people. Bret mother ran around like a headless chicken in an attempt to be everywhere at once. Bret and Johan spent the party chatting, eating and joking around. As the party went on Johan noticed that there were many people, probably close to a thousand. He could not help but feel a bit claustrophobic at times with this amount of unknown people around him. At around 11:30pm, the two boys made their way to the back yard and sat in a two person swinging chair. Bret had sworn that it was the best place at the party to watch the fireworks, so they had decided to wait there for the countdown. They snuck a variety of food and snacks with them to munch on while they waited. "Wow, Bret, this party is crazy. Your mom really does go all out! Was that mime a real mime or just a guest?" Johan asked as he shoved some pizza into his mouth.

"Yeah, she is a crazy lady," Bret said as he leaned back and looked up at the sky. "That mime is one of our neighbors' from down the street… he is kind of strange. He got rich off of some crazy mime website or something like that," Bret said as he sipped from his cup.

"Wow, a neighbor mime!" Johan commented as he selected the last piece of pizza from his plate. He bit into the pizza and noticed that it had shrimp on it. 'Mmmm,.. Shrimp… Judai really likes shrimp,' Johan thought mindlessly as he swallowed. 'I bet he would like this pizza… I wish he was here,' Johan sighed at he looked up at the night sky.

"Hey… What ya thinking about?" Bret asked when he noticed the far off look on Johan's face.

"Oh, nothing really," Johan replied as he thought more about Judai causing a sad smile to grace his sweet face.

"I bet I know what it is…." Bret said, his heart sunk in his chest.

Just then Bret's mom shouted for everyone attention. "We have one minute to the countdown!" she announced.

"Just one minute!? Oh boy!" Johan said as he turned to face Bret. When he saw Bret, his eyes widened. Bret had a sad smile across his tan face. "Bret… you alright?" Johan asked as he reached out and put his hand on Bret's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Bret said, but paused. There was 55 second left on the clock. Bret then fully turned to Johan, 50 second left. "Johan, there is something I have to tell you," Bret said a little too seriously, 45 seconds.

"What is it Bret?" Johan asked, now quite concerned. He knew that Bret was being serious when he used people's real names, 40 seconds.

In one swift motion Bret put his hand behind Johan's head and pulled their faces together, Johan's eyes widened in surprise, 35 seconds. Bret made it seem like he was going to kiss Johan. Johan shut his eyes and tried to pull back a bit but Bret would not let him. Bret gave Johan's head a swift pull forward and rested his forehead on Johan's, 30 seconds. "Please, please, Just listen to me!" Bret pleaded in a desperate voice, 25 seconds. Johan stopped pulling and listened. "Johan! You have to tell Judai the truth! You have to! If you don't, you will never be able to get over this! You can't live like this forever! I can't stand seeing you like this," Bret spoke so fast, that it was hard for Johan to keep up with what he was saying, 20 seconds. Bret pushed their foreheads tighter together as he kept on talking. "Please Johan, just tell him! Even if he does say 'no', I know that he will not leave you," both Bret's and Johan's hearts were racing as Bret kept on talking, 15 seconds. "You're such a wonderful person and Judai is so lucky to have _you_ chase after him so please don't give up," Bret pleaded in a desperate voice, 10 seconds. "If I were Judai, I would surly say yes if you confessed to me, no doubt about it, because…" Bret said as he cracked open his eyes. He pulled back a bit to find that Johan's eyes had also been shut as he listened to Bret speak. At the sight of Johan, Bret felt his heart skip a beat, 5 seconds. "Because I," 4 seconds, "deep down, I know that I," 3 seconds, "I truly do," 2 seconds, "I… I," 1 second, Johan cracked an eye open to look at Bret. "I lo-" and as the clock stuck midnight the fireworks shot height into the air, drowning out all sounds around them.

Johan fully opened his eyes to look at Bret. Bret's face was a deep red but Johan could not tell due to the different colored flashes of light from the fireworks in the air. 'Did Bret just encourage me to confess to Judai… and what was that at the end…?' Johan thought as he studied Bret for a minute. 'Bret is right. I can't keep going on like this forever! I need to let Judai know, for myself and for Judai,' Johan thought as courage swelled up in his body. A sweet smile grace Johan's face as he looked at Bret. "Thank you… Bret," Johan whispered before truing his attention to the fireworks.

Bret smiled sadly as he looked at his dear roommate. "Don't mention it, Doll Face," he whispered before he too turned to watch the fireworks.

((Okay, that was chapter 10. So… what did you thing? Good? Bad? Cheese? It didn't take me that long to write it since it was meant to be in the last chapter anyways and had been planned out already. I decided to make it its own chapter because I didn't want to rush it. It's meant to be the part where Johan decided that he will confess and stuff so I wanted to take my time with it and make if flow nicely. I hope it did.

Now the next chapter will take some more time… I think… It's already planned it out and I have worked on it a bit and at the moment, it's probably going to be long and full of feels! Johan's going to try to confess. Do you think he can do it? Maybe… You will just have to wait and read! I will try to get it written out before my convention but I don't know if I will be able to get it up before Comiket.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There was not much spiritshipping going on in this chapter… that is for the next chapter… hahaha! I would really like to hear what the readers think of this chapter so if you have time please review.

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and follows. Please keep them coming 3

I want to thank Judaisbutt for being my beta!

And thank JadenNg for always leaving such nice comments and taking such interest into this silly story of mine. Can't wait to see your art! ))


	12. Chapter 11

((So, it turns out that I had an extra day off of work this week and found the time to write Chapter 11. I really did want to get this out before I left for Comiket! Chapter 11! I have been planning it out since the day I decided to write this story! It was what inspired me to write this whole thing in the first place. So please read!

Also, I am sorry if any of the character seems out of character. It was sort of hard to write parts of this chapter because we never really get a good idea from the show on how Judai or Johan would really react in the face of love; and by love I mean them being the ones in love!

Anyways, please enjoy this chapter!

I do not own Yugioh GX))

Chapter 11

Johan had spent the remainder of his winter holiday with Bret. Since Bret had encouraged Johan to confess, Johan's confidence level increased tenfold. Before the thought of being with Judai brought pain and turmoil to his heart but now it brought joy and excitement. Something in the air told Johan that he had nothing to worry about, that Judai would surely return his feelings. Though Johan was eager to confess to his crush, he wanted to make sure he did it in a special way. He was not going to just waltz up to Judai and confess. No, that is far too boring for his taste. Johan wanted to create a special day, just like Judai had done for him on Christmas, but what should he do.

At the moment Johan was sitting in his room trying to think of the perfect first date. School had just started not two day ago and he had yet to see Judai. "Now, what would be best?" Johan thought aloud as he arbitrarily scribbled notes on a piece of paper.

Just then, the door flung open to reveal a jubilous Bret. For a while, Johan had worried about Bret. He had acted a bit strange for a few days after New Year's and Johan could not figure out why. He often had averted eye contact with Johan and was a lot less touchy. Maybe he was just worried for Johan. Either way, Johan was happy that Bret was being so supportive. Bret had made it a point to push Johan to confess since New Year's, comforting Johan with kind words so that Johan would not worry too much.

"I have the perfect idea for your BIG date," Bret sang as he marched into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Johan shot his head up from his notes and studies Bret. "Oh you do, do you?" Johan asked in suspicion. Bret had already come up with several date ideas and all of them Johan had rejected. One even included Johan dressing up at a pony and doing a silly dance. Sometimes Johan did not understand the way Bret thought.

"Yes! Isn't it obvious!" Bret said tossing his hands into the air as he sat down on his bed.

"Isn't what… obvious…?" Johan said lifting an eyebrow.

"The aquarium! DUH!" Bret said with a playful roll of his eyes.

"What? What are you talking about," Johan said, still quite confused.

"Haven't you two been talking about going there for some time? And yesterday everyone on the water polo team was given free tickets to the aquarium, right?" Bret said pausing for a moment. "Doll Face, if that is not destiny, then I don't know what is!" Bret said with a wink.

'_He is right, Judai has been talking about seeing those otters… and I bet there are a lot of other cool things to see there too…. And an aquarium can be very romantic without being too awkward,'_ Johan thought as he looked down at his notes. "You know…. You might just be right," Johan slowly said as he looked up at Bret. Then a flaw in the plan hit him. "Wait, we were all each give one ticket… so I only have one…" Johan said, his smile falling a bit.

"Oh yeah, well, I don't really care for fish," Bret said looking up at the ceiling. "Big bodies of water full of big scary fish always makes me nervous," Bret quickly glanced at Johan before looking back up. "Sooo, ya know… I probably won't use MY ticket…." he said trailing off at the end.

Johan's eyes brightened as he realized what Bret was telling him. "You mean, you're willing to give it to me?" Johan said as he hopped of his bed with joy. "The aquarium will be the best place I just know it!" Johan cheered as he skipped around a bit. "Thank you, Bret! Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, Doll Face… but there is just one condition," Bret said slyly.

"Condition? And that would be…?" Johan asked, as he walked over to Bret's side of the room.

"Yes," Bret said as he reached out and pulled Johan closer to his face. Bret's face went serious as he looked into Johan's green eyes. "You have to promise me that you will confess to Judai… no chickening out!" Bret said with a straight face. Johan looked deep into Bret's yellow eyes as he listened to him talk. "… Because, Johan, if you don't confess, you won't be able to move on," Bret added as he released Johan.

Johan sat stunned for a second, just looking at Bret. "Yeah, I-I promise," Johan whispered.

"Good, Doll Face, then you can have my ticket," Bret said, this time a bit more playfully.

Just then Johan's alarm went off, telling him that he had to go to his afternoon class. "Oh damn," Johan said as he collected his stuff for class. "Um, you can just leave the ticket on my desk. I gotta go to class," Johan said as he swung his bag around his shoulder. Johan then made for the door. Before shutting the door he looked back at Bret. "Hey… Thank you… For being there for me… And I promises I won't let you down," Johan said as he shot a big smile at Bret, his green eyes full of thanks. He then hastily shut the door and ran off to class.

Bret watched as the door shut behind his deer roommate. "Don't mention it buddy… because if you don't move on, then how am I ever going to move on," Bret said with a sad sigh as he flopped down on his bed.

XXX

The week flew by quickly as Johan planned his big date with Judai. Johan had decided that he would take Judai to the aquarium to see the otters and the other exhibits. They would spend the first half of the day looking at the fun playful exhibits, such as the otters and penguins. After that, they would have lunch. Johan decided to pack a homemade picnic lunch for them to eat out on the aquarium's veranda; Johan thought it would be very romantic. After lunch they would head over to the more romantic part of the aquarium, the calming jellyfish exhibit and there was supposed to be a huge three story tank that housed huge sharks and fish. The larger was known for being very romantic since the room's lights were often dim. It was here where Johan planned to confess his feeling for Judai. It would be here where Johan would know the truth. The idea of confessing made Johan both excited and terrified.

At the moment, Johan was walking with Judai, Fubuki and Jim to the dining commons. They had just finished duel class and Johan was trying to find the best way to ask Judai out. He knew it would be strange to invite Judai but not Jim and Fubuki. At the dining commons the boys bought their food and snagged a table. Feel queasy at the idea of inviting Judai out on a date, Johan had chosen a salad for dinner.

"You sure that's all you want to eat Johan? You are usually a monster on Fridays… You okay," Judai asked as he looked at the small plate of salad in front of his best friend. Today was the first day since their Christmas outing that Judai and Johan met. Though Judai didn't realize it till he saw Johan, he had missed Johan greatly. For some reason he had been very irritable all break. He often unintentionally snapped at people over the break but from the second he saw Johan, the irritable feeling went away. Judai had thought it was strange but chose not to dwell on it.

Johan jumped at the sound of Judai's voice. "What? Oh yeah… I um… I'm fine… Just a new diet thing I am trying…" Johan quickly lied.

"Diet? You? But you're not fat," Judai said, feeling worried for his teal haired friend.

"Judai is right Johan, you have one of the best bodies I have ever seen!" Fubuki added as if he were guru on hot bodies.

"Yeah, and that salad is too small! Didn't you play water polo today? This small amount of salad won't replenish all the-" But Jim was cut off before he could finish.

"Okay, Okay!" Johan shouted, not meaning to sounds as exasperated as he did. Everyone at the table jumped a bit and gave Johan a wide eyes stare. It's not like he was really on a diet. It was just an excuse he made up on the spot. He would need to be more careful about his excuses. "I'll go get something else to eat after I am done with this," Johan said as he pointed to his small salad. "So, can we change the subject?"

The three other boys all exchanged looks of shock. They all sat quietly for about a minute not saying a word. "So… have you boys heard about the valentine ball that will be going on in a few weeks…" Fubuki was the first to speak.

"Oh yeah…. I may have heard about it, mate…." Jim replied in a bright voice, trying to erase the awkward atmosphere that hung over the table.

"Oh really now? Will you be going Jim?" Fubuki asked slyly as he eyed the Australian boy.

"Well… um… I may… uh show up for a while," Jim said nervously as he scratched the back of his head and looked away from Fubuki.

"OH!? And will you be going alone?" Fubuki asked as he leaned in closer to Jim. "or will you be taking a special someone?"

"I…. uh… I… haven't decided," Jim said, his cheeks now red. He had thought about inviting Asuka to join him but he was far too shy to announce it to the others.

"Hmmmm…?" Fubuki sang as he studied the nervous Jim. Much to Jim's joy, Fubuki turned his attention to the other two boys at the table. "Will you two be attending the event?" he asked as he eyed them.

"Um… why in the hell would I go to a stupid Valentine's Day ball?" Judai replied in a sassy tone.

This caused Fubuki to lift an eyebrow and study Judai a bit more. "Well, I heard that the food at this ball is to die for," Fubuki relied; he looked at Judai to see if he got a response. Judai didn't seem to care. "I also heard that the money for the tickets will be donated to a worthy cause. Going to this ball could help people in need," Fubuki added as he looked away from Judai and to Johan. "How about you Johan? Will you go?"

Johan had been too busy spacing out about asking Judai out tomorrow to listen. At the moment he was rolling a tomato around his untouched salad. "Huh!? What?" Johan said as his head shot up to look at Fubuki.

"I asked, are you going to the Valentine Ball?" Fubuki repeated as he shot an annoyed look at the spaced out Johan.

"Oh umm…. I don't know… maybe," Johan replied as he shot a quick glance in Judai's direction. 'Maybe Judai would go with me…' Johan thought as he tried to stay connected to reality.

Fubuki saw the silly look that swept across Johan's face when Johan had looked at Judai. "Oh well, this is interesting…" Fubuki hummed as he leaned back in his chair.

"What is? What's interesting?" Judai asked as he eyed Fubuki.

"Oh, nothing…" Fubuki replied with a sly smirk. "So Johan, if you do go, will you be going alone… or maybe with people from you team… Like James and maybe… Bret," as Fubuki said Bret's name, he glanced over at Judai.

Just as Fubuki had expected, Judai's face went from content to furious in a matter of seconds. Before Johan could replied to Fubuki's question Judai slammed his hands onto the table causing all the dishes and cups to shake. "Not with him!" Judai hissed, his eyes flashed gold for a split second. For some reason the idea of Johan hanging with Bret caused Judai to go mad. Judai was normally a very calm and relaxed person when it came to other people relations but just thinking about Johan with Bret made Judai's temper boil.

Everyone at the table shot surprised looked at the fuming Judai. "N-not who?" Johan finally asked after a few moments of silence.

Judai's temper seemed to defuse a bit at the sound of Johan's voice. He looked around at his shocked friends and let out a sigh. "You know what… I'm not hungry," Judai finally said as he looked down at his half-finished dinner. "I'm gonna go," he sighed as he picked up said plate to throw it out the food that was left.

Jim shot Fubuki a confused looked as they watched their brown-haired friend gather his dishes. Fubuki knew that Judai disliked Bret being close to Johan but he didn't know it was this bad. Johan on the other hand was in a crazed panic. 'I haven't asked him out yet!' he thought frantically as he tried to think of what to do it.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," Judai mumbled as made his way to the trashcan.

"Yeah… um try to feel better, mate," Jim replied as he shot a half confused, half nervous look at Judai.

"See you later," Fubuki sang as he watched Judai walk off.

Johan on the other hand was in a panic. If you looked at him, he would seem pretty normal, but on the inside he was screaming. 'What do I do? What do I do?' Johan frantically thought as he watched his crush walk out the door. Without thinking Johan shot out of his seat! "I got to go too!" he practically shouted at Jim and Fubuki and without waiting for a reply, he grabbed his bag and shot out after Judai.

Judai was looking up at the cool night sky as he walked. 'Why? Why does this bother me so much?' Judai thought as he let out a sigh. 'Why have I become so protective of Johan… and it's not like Bret has ever done anything to harm Johan,' he thought as he tried to calm himself down. He then remembered the Christmas kiss that Johan and Bret shared and that Johan had spent all New Years with the golden eyed boy. Anger started to grow in Judai's stomach as he remembered all this. Just then Judai hear someone calling his name.

"Judai! Judai wait!" Johan shouted as he ran after his crush.

Judai turned to see that it was none other than Johan. The rage he had been feeling just moments ago seemed to disappear at the sight of the teal haired boy. "Johan?" Judai said as he stopped and fully turned to Johan.

"J-Judai," Johan gasped as he finally reached Judai. He took a moment to catch his breath before speaking. "I… I need to ask you something…" Johan said as he nervously smiled at Judai.

"Oh, what is it?" Judai asked as he eyed the teal haired boy. He could not help but admire the way Johan's white skin and teal hair glowed in the moon's light.

"Umm… Are you… Do you have any plans tomorrow," Johan asked, stumbling over his words a bit.

Judai lifted a brow as he heard Johan's question. "Um…not that I know of," Judai replied after a few seconds of thinking.

"Great!" Johan said, sounding a bit too happy. He then realized how strange it must have sounded and tried to control his smile. He stared at Judai awkwardly for a few seconds before talking again. "Well, you see, everyone on my water polo team was given tickets to the aquarium, you now the one with the otters… and I have two tickets… and I was wondering if, tomorrow, you wanted to join me at the aquarium…. Just… just the two of us…" Johan said, shooting a pleading smile at Judai.

Judai studied Johan as the boy spoke. He could not help but smirk when Johan said 'just the two of us…' The idea of being alone with Johan was very appealing to Judai for some reason. "I don't know… I may be busy with cleaning my room tomorrow… but since there will be sea otters I guess I can't refuse," Judai said playfully as his smile grew.

"S-so it's a yes?" Johan asked, his heart almost leaping out of his chest.

"Duh! How can I say not to going to the aquarium with my best friend," Judai replied as he playfully nudged Johan shoulder.

"R-Really!? GREAT!" Johan shouted, causing Judai to step back a bit in surprise. "I… Uh… I mean, I wouldn't want the ticket to go to waste… and Um… going alone would be… ya know… lonely," Johan quickly added as he tried to control the embarrassment he was felling.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want my dear Johan to be lonely," Judai replied, not really thinking about what he had said.

This time Johan was not able to control the blush that took over his whole face. 'D-did he just say….my dear Johan…' Johan thought as he stared into space. He felt his heart melt as the words sunk in. Just then Johan's stomach let out a loud growl that caused both him and Judai to jump.

"Damn, I thought that was a tiger or something," Judai joked as he looked at Johan's still rumbling stomach.

Johan placed his right hand over his stomach and scratched the back of his head with his left hand. "Uh, oops. I um… I guess I am still hungry," Johan said as he tried to quiet his stomach down. Due to being nervous about asking Judai out, Johan had barely eaten a thing all night, but now that the asking was over, his stomach was not scared anymore.

Judai shook his head and smiled softly at his best friend. He then dug into his backpack and pulled out a candy bar. "Here, it's all I have but many it will help control that animal you call your stomach," Judai joked as he handed the candy to Johan.

"Hehe… yeah, I guess I need to tame it better," Johan said with a giggle as he took the candy from his crush. "So um… I um… the aquarium opens at around eleven so why don't we meet at ten," Johan said as he fiddled with the candy bar.

"Sounds good to me…" Judai said as he admired the cute way Johan was acting. 'He must really be hungry or something,' Judai thought.

"Oh and um… Don't worry about lunch… Since I owe you lunch anyways, I will bring it," Johan added with a smile.

"Sweet! Tomorrow is defiantly going to be a great day if Johan is making food for me," Judai said as he licked his lips.

Johan blushed yet again at Judai's words. 'And if we date, I can cook for you every day,' he thought to himself. "So, um, why don't you message me when you are at my dorm and we can head out," Johan suggested.

"Sounds good… So I will see you tomorrow then," Judai said as he leaned his head to the side.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Johan replied with his heart full of joy.

The two started to back away when Judai stopped. "Oh and…um… Johan?" Judai said as he fully turned back to Johan.

"Yes?" Johan replied as he cocked his head to the side.

"I uh… I think you look really nice… so you don't need to diet," Judai mumbled, his cheeks a light pink.

Johan turned his head to the side. 'Diet?' Johan thought as he tried to comprehend what Judai meant. He then remembered that he had lied about being on a diet. "Oh…. Yeah… Diet… I guess your right… I will… um… maybe make it a point to eat more," Johan said with a blush as he tried to play along with the diet idea. The two boys stood in awkward silence for a while, both admiring the other's features in the moonlight. "Well, I will see you tomorrow," Johan said as he came back to reality yet again.

"Oh, right! See you tomorrow," Judai replied with a shake of his head. They both exchange one last longing look, neither one wanting to split.

"Good night," Johan whispered as he took a step back.

"Night…." Judai replied as he ripped his eyes away from Johan, turned and walked off towards his dorm. For some reason, saying bye to Johan was almost as hard as ripping a band aid off, he knew he had to do it in one swift motion or it would never happen.

Johan watched his crush walk off into the distance before heading back to his dorm as well. As he walked back he nibbled on the candy bar Judai had given him, it was dark chocolate with almonds. Johan could not help but smile sweetly as he savored the taste of the chocolate that he had received from his beloved crush. His mind reviewed over the exchange he just had with Judai, his heart pounding in his chest. 'I can't believe he said yes…. And did he tell me that he thinks I look nice?' Johan's face turned a deep red as his mind replayed the part where Judai had told Johan to drop the diet. Johan could not help but feel hope run through his body as he made his way to the dorm.

XXX

The next day Johan woke early to prepare for the big date. He had woken up and headed straight to the communal kitchen to put together the picnic lunch. He had decided to make mostly Japanese food knowing that Judai probably missed it. Johan had spent a good three hours putting everything together. He made tamagoyaki *, chicken karaage*, inarizushi*, and Judai's beloved ebi fry*. Johan also put together some sandwiches as well as garnishing the lunch with fresh tomatoes, mini sausages cut to look like octopus and apples wedges cut to look like bunnies. Lastly, he whipped up some cookies for desert. Johan could not help but admire the lunch he made as he placed the lid on the bento* he had bought while he had been in Japan. After lunch was made, he still had a good hour and a half before he had to meet Judai. He spent the time showering and making himself look as nice as he could in an attempt to win over his crush.

After showering and cleaning himself up, Johan went to Bret's full-body mirror and looked over himself one last time. Johan had decided to wear a nice tight fitting white button-up shirt to make the occasion feel more like a date then a simple hang out session. Instead of having normal white buttons, this particular shirt was decorated with rainbow buttons that seemed to fit Johan's personality well. Over the button-up, he had a snazzy black vest that showed off his body's figure well. It was buttoned from mid-chest down to his bellybutton causing his shirt to peaked out from under the vest. As for his bottom, he had on deep blue skinny jeans that showed of his toned legs while still making him look slender. To top it all off he had decided to wear a pair of nice black boots that he received from his family for Christmas. The boot reached halfway up his calf. Johan had considered topping off the look with a tie, but felt that a tie was probably too formal for this particular occasion. Johan nodded as he gave himself on last look in the mirror.

"Well, don't you look sharp," Bret commented as he looked over at Johan.

Johan blushed at the compliment as he turned from the mirror to his roommate. "Do you really think so? It's not too much, is it?" Johan asked, his voice full of nerves.

"You look just fine, Doll Face, so calm down. If you go out there shaking like you are, Judai is going to think you are sick or something," Bret joked in an attempt to calm Johan down a bit.

Johan looked down to see that is hands were indeed shaking. He quickly shook them out and took a deep breath to gather himself. "Yes, yes! Everything is going to be just fine," Johan said more to himself then to Bret. "There is absolutely nothing to worry about. I mean come on! I have hung out with him so many times, what makes today different? Just act normal!"

Bret lifted an eyebrow and chuckled as he watched Johan talk to himself. "You are going to scare Judai away if you keep talking to yourself like that," Bret joked as he shook his head.

"What? Did I say that out loud?" Johan gasped as he felt his nerve spin out of control yet again.

"Listen, Doll Face, it's all going to be okay. Judai would be a fool if he rejects you, so calm down. He has probably been waiting for you to confess for months," Bret said, hoping yet again to calm Johan down.

"Do you really think so…?" Johan asked in a small voice.

"I know so, Doll Face," Bret said with a wink.

Johan returned Bret's wink with a soft smile. Just then Johan's phone buzzed, causing his ass to vibrate. He quickly pulled the phone from his pocket and found that he had a message from Judai. Johan could not help but smile as he opened the message.

_I'm here! Meet me in the parking lot. – Judai_

Johan could not help but smile even wider as his body shook with nervous excitement. "Well, I better be off," Johan said in a shaky voice as he gathered his backpack.

"You can do it, Doll Face. Have faith," Bret said as he gave Johan a big thumbs up.

"Thank you," Johan said, his smiled warmly at his dear roommate. He then turned and exited the room. Once the door was shut, he made his way down the hall and to the parking lot. 'You can do this! It's all going to be okay. Even if he does reject you, it does not mean that your friendship has to end,' this all ran frantically through Johan's head as he made his way to the parking lot. Once outside, he spotted Judai with his motorcycle. Judai was wearing what he always wore, a black shirt, a jacket, some blue jeans and boots. Though it was the same thing Judai always had on, he seemed to shine in the midmorning sun. At the sight of his crush, all of Johan's nerves vanished and were replaced with joy. "G-good morning Juday… I mean Judai!" Johan said with a light blush as he stumbled over his words.

Judai lifted his head to see Johan coming his way. For some reason Johan seemed to glow radiantly as the sun shown down on him. Judai felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched the boy come his way. "G-Good morning!" Judai replied once he found his voice. He seemed lost in some sort of trance as he took in Johan. For some reason, Judai felt that today was more than just a day out with his best friend and it made him a little nervous.

Johan stopped in front of Judai, smiling widely as confidence took over his being. "So, are you ready to go?" Johan asked in a cheerful tone.

Judai shot back to reality at the sound of his best friend's sweet voice. "Uh! Oh yeah! Let's get going," Judai said as he felt a slight blush overtake his cheeks. He then tossed Johan the blue helmet before placing his own red helmet on his head.

Johan juggled the helmet unable to get a proper hold and almost dropping it but was able to catch it before it hit the ground. With his face burning red, Johan hastily pulled the helmet onto his head and hopped onto the bike. "D-do you know where to go?" Johan asked in a shaky voice as he tried to control the embarrassment he felt. He had totally forgotten to look up the direction to the aquarium.

"Yes, I looked it up last night before bed, so I think I know where I am going," Judai replied as he settled himself on the motorcycle. He could not help but smile at how cute his dear Johan was being. 'Cute? Dear Johan? Come on Judai! Get a hold of yourself!' his mind shouted as he turned on the bike. "Hold on tight! Wouldn't want you to fall off!" Judai joked as he shouted to Johan.

"Oh! Right!" Johan said as he quickly wrapped his arms around Judai's midsection, unintentionally pressing his whole boy against Judai in the process.

Judai could not help but blush when he felt his best friend's body pressed against his back. "Okay! Off we go," he shouted in an attempt to distract himself. He focused as much as he could on the road in front of him and not on the boy behind him.

Throughout the whole ride Johan had his body pressed against Judai's. His arms wrapped tightly around Judai's strong torso. He rested his head gently on Judai's back, admiring the smell of his crush. Johan felt like he was in heaven once again. 'After today, I will be able to hold Judai like this all the time,' Johan dreamily thought as his heart leaped with joy.

The aquarium was not too far from the school and only took the boys about 20 minutes to reach the aquarium's parking lot. Once they found a parking stop they parked the bike and unloaded themselves from it. Johan made sure not to forget his backpack, it held their picnic lunch. "Shall we get going?" Judai said after he checked over his bike one last time.

"Yes! Let's get going!" Johan replied as he threw a fist into the air.

The two boys made their way down to the aquariums entrance. As they walked they discussed what they wanted to see most at the aquarium, Johan hand been able to talk Judai into walking through the aquarium in the right order so that their date could end in front of the most romantic exhibit of them all, and the place where Johan wanted to confess. When they got to the entrance Johan handed the man his two free tickets and they entered.

The aquarium was two stories high and was larger than Johan had expected. A sign at the entrance told them that to the left were penguins, tropical fish, and a large recreation of a kelp forest as well as other smaller exhibits. Straight ahead was the Sea Otter exhibit as well as an outdoor sitting area that overlooked the sea. To the right was the jellyfish exhibit and large three story tank that held the larger fish, such as tuna and mahi-mahi.

"Since the whole reason we came here was to see the otters, how about we go to that one first," Johan suggested as he looked from the map to Judai.

Judai felt his heart beat madly against his chest when he saw the sweet smile gracing Johan's face. "Uh, yeah!" Judai said as he tried to shake himself of these strange feelings. "Since I have wanted to see them the most, let's go take a look," he added as he gained control of both his heart and voice. Without thinking, Johan took Judai's hand and pulling him in the direction of the sea otters. Judai blushed at the feel of Johan's strong yet soft hand in his own. Once at the exhibit, Johan lead Judai up some stairs so that they could be level with the water's surface. Johan then released Judai's hand as they found a nice spot to view the otters. Judai felt a strange feeling of disappointment as this action. 'What is wrong with me,' Judai thought as he glanced over at Johan.

At the moment Johan was looking up at the exhibit. Some of the otters were floating lazily on their backs while others were zipping through the water like crazed acrobats. "Wow! Aren't they just so cute?" Johan said as he turned from the otters to Judai. Johan was surprised to see that Judai was staring at him instead of the otters.

It took Judai a moment to realize that Johan had spoken and was now looking at him. "Huh!? Oh yeah! They are super cute," Judai said as he quickly turned from Johan to the otters.

Johan could not help but smile as his heart filled with even more hope. 'Judai is so cute when he is nervous,' Johan thought as he studied Judai's lightly pinkened cheeks. The two boys watched the otter for a while. They joked about the animals as they watched them zip around the tank. After a while, they decided to head to another exhibit. "How about we head to the left and check out the penguins and stuff," Johan suggested as they made their way back to the first floor.

"Sure, sounds good to me," Judai said, not really caring which exhibit they saw next.

The two headed to the second floor of the aquarium to see the Galapagos penguins. They both spent most of the time at this exhibit joking about how silly all the penguins looked. They would find a certain penguin and then try to reenact the post the penguin was making. At one point, the two were laughing so hard that they could barely stand. Many people around the exhibit shot concerned looks at the boys and made sure to give the boys their space. An older lady shook her head in disgust as she watched the two boys. After the penguins, the two took time and looked around at the tropical fish. They both found the seahorses to be the most interesting of them all. They only spent about ten minutes looking at the tropical fish before heading to the next exhibit.

After they were done looking at all the brightly colored fish, they headed down stairs and looked at the kelp forest exhibit. This particular exhibit was meant to be a replica of the actual kelp beds that were native to the area. As they looked at the different fish in the exhibit, Johan spouted off fact about the plan life that he had learned from the ocean science class he was taking this semester. Judai didn't pay too much attention to what Johan was saying but instead got lost in Johan's looks. The sun shining through the water hit Johan in such a way that it made Johan look as if he was glowing. His teal hair seemed to match the glow of the water so well. 'Almost like a mermaid,' Judai thought as he got lost in Johan's bright green eyes. Judai had the sudden urge to reach out and touch Johan's soft glowing hair as he listened to the boy's sweet voice.

"I was surprised to find out that it was used to make both toothpaste and ice cream! Isn't that strange?" Johan said as he turned from the exhibit to Judai. He was surprised to find that Judai was looking at him with a far off look in his brown eyes, yet again. "Um… are you okay?" Johan asked blushing a bit as he waved his hand in front of Judai's face.

Judai immediately snapped out of his daydream as Johan waved his hand in front of his eyes. "Huh? What?" Judai said as he tried to remember what Johan had been talking about. In an attempt make is seem like he had not been looking at Johan, he averted his eyes to the exhibit.

"Were you even listening to me?" Johan asked as he lifted an eyebrow and studied Judai. Judai shot a glance at Johan and smiled innocently but didn't reply. "If you found this exhibit boring, you could have just said something," Johan said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"No! No! That's not it," Judai said frantically as he waved his hands in the air. "It's just that I found it… a bit…" Judai started to say as he quickly glanced over at Johan. He felt his heart speed up when his brown eyes made contact with Johan's green eyes. "I found it enchanting," he whispered as he almost lost himself in a sea of bright green yet again.

"You what?" Johan questioned, not quite catching what Judai had said.

Judai looked away from Johan quickly, trying hard not to blush. "Oh, nothing! Just forget it… Let's go check something else out," Judai replied as he tried to regain control of his beating heart.

Johan shot Judai a suspicious look before nodding and leading Judai to the next area. The two boys spent the rest of the morning and afternoon checking out the left side of the aquarium. They got to pet some bat rays, saw some huge sharks, and they even went to a small exhibit where indigenous birds were taken when hurt and rehabilitated. By two o'clock both boys were feeling quite hungry. "How about we go eat outside on the veranda that overlooks the sea," Johan suggested as he pointed to the door that lead them to the outside area of the aquarium.

The two boys made their way outside and found a nice shaded spot to sit and eat their lunch. It was a pleasant sunny day, not too hot but also not too cold. From where they sat they could see out over the bay. Johan noticed a spotted seal lounging on a rock not too far from the aquarium. "It sure is a nice day," Johan commented as he looked out over the sea.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Real nice! Now where is the lunch you promised me!" Judai hastily spat as his mouth watered a bit.

Johan giggled as he watched a bit of drool slide down his crush's chin. "Okay, okay. It's right here," Johan said as he pulled the large bento and two juice boxes from his backpack. He then placed the bento between Judai and himself and opened both layers to reveal the lunch.

Judai's eyes widened with joy at the sight of the handmade lunch. "It… It's wonderful," he said as he sniffed the air around the lunch. "Did you really make this all on your own!?"

"Yes! I made it all this morning," Johan replied with a chuckled as he watched his crush's silly antics. "Here, I brought these too," Johan said as he handed Judai a pair of disposable chopsticks.

In one swift motion, Judai swiped the chopstick from Johan's hand and snapped them apart. "Itadakimasu!*" Judai shouted as he dug into the glorious lunch. His eyes shined with stars as he shoved a whole ebi fry into his mouth. "S-s-so good," he moaned after swallowing the shrimp.

"I… I'm glad you like it," Johan mumbled as he blushed and watched Judai shove even more food into his mouth. His heart beat like crazy at the idea that something he made was bringing so much pleasure to the man he loved. He got lost in the idea of making meals for Judai every day. 'Like a duel wife,' Johan thought to himself as a dreamy looked overtook his face.

"Hey, you okay Johan? Aren't you going to eat too?" Judai asked as he paused from eating to take a look at his best friend. He noticed a strange look on his friends face 'Wow, is he really that hungry?' Judai thought as he studied Johan.

Johan snapped out of his daydream at the sound of Judai's enticing voice. "Huh? What?" Johan mumbled as he came back to reality. He looked to see that Judai was holding a tomato to his face.

"Open your mouth and said 'Ahhhh'" Judai said as he held the tomato closer to Johan.

"Judai! What are you…?" Johan squeaked at he looked from the tomato to Judai.

"What does it look like I am doing? Since you are obviously too hungry to feed yourself, I will feed you," Judai said, pushing the tomato even closer to Johan. "So open your mouth and say 'Ahhhh'" Judai stated yet again.

"Judai! I can feed-" Johan started to say but was cut off by Judai.

"I said open your mouth," Judai sternly said as he pouted a bit.

Johan felt his face go from ivory to fire engine red as he opened his mouth. "A-A-Ahhhhh," he shakily sang as he waited for Judai to feed him.

"Good boy," Judai said he held the cherry tomato by its stem and placed it into Johan's mouth.

While making eye contact with Judai and blushing like crazy, Johan wrapped his mouth round the red fruit, his soft lips brushed against Judai's fingertips. Both boys blushed at the contact of finger to lips and looked away from each other. Johan quickly bit the tomato from the stem and pulled himself away from Judai. He chewed the tomato as he tried to control his beating heart. He almost choked from nerves as he swallowed the fruit. The two sat in an awkward silence as they both tried to control their emotions. 'What just happened?' Judai thought as he tried to contain the beating of his heart. He glanced over to see a blushing Johan who, at the moment, was staring out at the sea. "Was it good?" Judai finally asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Was what good?" Johan asked as he jumped out of his thoughts and turned to Judai. "Oh! The tomato? Y-Yeah! It was great… very sweet!" Johan replied once he realized that Judai was asking about the tomato and not his fingers.

"Good… now… I want you to be a big boy and eat the rest on your own… unless you need me to feed you…." Judai joked, in hopes to rid them of the awkward atmosphere that hunger over them at the moment.

Johan got the hint and smiled at his dear crush. "Yes mom! I can eat on my own, thank you!" Johan joked back as he picked up his chopsticks and broke them in half.

The two spent the rest of their lunch joking about various things. Judai would comment on how delicious everything was every now and then, causing Johan to blush madly. As Judai complimented the food, Johan's confidence and hope grew stronger and stronger. Once the bento was wiped clean of food, Johan pulled out the cookies he had made for desert. Johan had cut the cookies into different sea animal shapes for the occasions. The two spent another 30 minutes munching on the cookies and sipping on the juice. Once all was gone, Johan packed everything up and placed it in his backpack.

"So, how about we go check out the next half of the exhibit," Johan said as he stood up and brush the dust from his pants.

"Sounds good to me," Judai replied as he followed suit.

The two boys mad their way back into the building. As Johan planned, the they first went to the jellyfish exhibit. Johan could not help but compare Judai's head to that of a jellyfish.

"What!? My head looks nothing like a jellyfish!" Judai pouted as he playfully glared at Johan.

"What? Yeah it does. The top of your hair is a different color from the bottom, just like how the top of a jellyfish is different from the bottom," Johan explained with a giggle. He then reached out and grabbed the hair that hung beside Judai's face. "And here are the stingers" he added as he gave Judai's hair a light tug before letting go.

Judai sat dumbfounded as he listened to what his best friend had to say. He had to admit that Johan did have a point. Now that he saw his reflection, his hair did sort of resemble a jellyfish, not that he would ever admit it aloud. He then thought for a second before a sly smirk spread across his face. "I don't mean to disappoint you but this is not my stinger," Judai said in a low voice, referring to the hair Johan had just tugged on.

"My real stingers are these," he shouted as he shot toward Johan and started to poke him in the belly as he sang "Sting! Sting! Sting!"

Caught off guard, Johan stumbled backwards and ran into one of the tanks on the wall. "S-S-Stop!" Johan shouted between giggles as Judai pinned him to the wall and ticked his stomach. "J-J-Judai!"

"Hey! I can't help it! I'm a jellyfish and jellyfish sting!" Judai said, not ready to stop tickling his best friend.

Just then they heard a loud cough from behind Judai. Judai stopped in mid-tickle as they both looked over to see an older lady with two young children shooting the two a very offensive look. The kid, on the other hand, looked at the two boys in confusion. Judai pulled away from Johan, allowing Johan his freedom. The lady walked past the two boys shooting them one last glare. Once she passed by the boys, the two broke out into hysterical laughter.

"D-d-did you see her face! She looked so pissed," Judai laughed as he held his stomach.

"I-I-I wonder w-w-what she th-th-thought when she s-s-saw us," Johan replied as he tried his best to hold himself up, despite his inability to breath from laughing so hard.

The two carried on laughing and joking about the incident as they looked at the rest of the jellyfish. Johan's favorite jellyfish were the ones that swam upside down and looked like little plants. Both boys found them funny. After about 20 minutes of walking around and looking at jellyfish, Johan suggested that they make their way to the next and last exhibit, the large three story one; the one where Johan would make his big confession.

The two decided to hang out on the second floor, there weren't people on this floor, so they were able to get a good view of the large fish. The tank consisted of many large open ocean fish and sharks. There were some tuna, a few mahi mahi, two large dopy sunfish, a large school of sardines, a few bat rays and sing rays, a variety of shark and one small great white shark that was the main attraction of the exhibit. The room was dimly lit. The majority of the light can from the tank itself, causing the room to have a dull blue glow to it. The tank in the room took up the whole wall, from top to bottom. Johan could not help but think that this was the perfect place for his confession. The two boys made their way over to the tank to take a look at the fish.

"Wow!" Judai said in awe as he placed his hand on the tanks glass. "How do they keep all this water in here…" he asked, not expecting a reply.

"Well it all has to do with the glass," Johan said as he looked over at Judai but found himself at a loss of words as the blue light from the take caused Judai to glow like a god. As he got lost in the greatness that was Judai, Johan forgot all about answering Judai's question. 'I can't believe I am going to confess to him. But now it the best time to do it,' Johan though as his heart started to speed up. Johan gathered up his courage and just as he was about to tap Judai on the shoulder to get his attention, Judai turned to him.

"Hey, I forgot but I have something for you that I got in Japan," Judai suddenly said as he turned to Johan.

Johan was caught a bit off guard as his brilliant green eyes made eye contact with Judai's soft brown ones. "What?" Johan asked, feeling stupid for not saying something else.

"I said I got you something while I was in Japan. I sort of forgot to give it to you earlier," Judai explained as he reached into his pocket. "It's nothing big or anything… Just something I found that reminded me of you," he mumbled as he pulled a small brown paper bag out of his pocket. The bag seemed to have been crumpled a bit in travel. "Here…um… open it," Judai shyly said, handing the item over to Johan.

Johan's eye grew in surprise as took the item from Judai. "I-Is it really okay?" he asked as he looked over the package.

"Y-yes! Of course it is!" Judai said, a pink blush graced his cheeks. "Go on, open it," he said prompting Johan to open the gift.

Johan looked down at the bag for a second before searching for the bags opening. Once he found the opening, he peeled the top off of the bag that was holding it closed. He opened the bag slowly and looked inside to see a small little object. Now full of curiosity he held the bag upside down over his open left hand. He was surprised to see that the small silver object was in fact a keychain. He picked the keychain up by its ring and held it up to get a better look. The light from the tank reflected off the keychain causing the silver keychain to glow blue. As Johan looked at the item he came to realize that it was a small silver Ruby Carbuncle keychain. She was in a sitting position with a big smiled on her little face. Johan felt himself go speechless as he studied the item. "I…. Did you make…. This?" Johan asked as he looked from the keychain to Judai.

The whole time Judai was trying his best to keep his heartbeat under control. 'Why am I so nervous about what he thinks? It's just some dumb gift so why am I so worked up?' Judai thought to himself as he watched the boy in front of him. He could not help but notice how the blue glow from the tank matched so well with Johan's hair and eyes. 'So beautiful…' Judai thought as his breath caught in his thoughts. He jumped out of his daydream when he heard Johan. "What?" Judai said, shaking himself back to reality.

"I asked if you made it," Johan repeated as he cocked his head to the side.

"I uh… No… I … I found it at a shop," Judai said, feeling embarrassed for some strange reason. "I'm not as talented as you are," he then quietly added.

Johan could not help but smile as he looked upon Judai's red face. "Well, I think it's perfect regardless of whether it was homemade or not," Johan said as he looked back down at the little Ruby figure. "I will treasure it forever," he added in a small voice. Johan then realized that he had to confess to Judai now. He had to, right now. With his heart beating madly against his chest, Johan took Judai's right hand in his own right hand and held it up. "J-Judai… I have something really important I need to tell you," Johan said, feeling courage run through his veins.

"J-Johan!? What is it?" Judai asked, a bit surprised by his best friend's actions. Judai could not help but notice the way the blue light reflected off of Johan's green eyes, causing them to turn a beautiful blue green that reminded Judai of the ocean on a clear sunny day.

Johan took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. "The thing is… for a very long time… I have…. I…" Johan felt his breath getting heavier and heavier as the word came to his mouth. "The thing is… I… I lo-" but Johan was not able to finish his sentence as he felt himself being pulled away from Judai.

"WOW GRANDMA LOOK! IT'S SO BIG!" one of the kids from earlier shouted as he pushed between Judai and Johan to get a better look at the sunfish that was passing by.

"Out of my way! You always get the best spots," the boy's little sister shouted as she pushed her way to where her brother was.

Johan sat in complete utter shock. His perfect chance to confess had been ruined. He was just about to tell Judai how he truly felt and these two demons had to get in his way. Johan then looked over to see that the grandma from earlier was sending him a snarky smirk. Johan felt anger and frustration run through his body as he glared at the lady. "You! You did that on purpose," he hissed under his breath in a low voice as he glared daggers at the lady.

"Johan! Johan! Are you okay?" Judai said as he tried to get Johan's attention. "You were about to say something before those kids interrupted you…" Judai said as he shot a worried look at his best friend.

Johan tore his eyes away from the old lady and back to Judai. He felt his heart sink when he made eye contact with his crush. The courage that he had felt earlier had vanished. "No… it was nothing important," Johan whispered as he looked to the floor. Johan felt that the moment was lost.

Judai cocked his head to the side as he looked at his dear friend. He could tell that something was bothering Johan, but what? "Well, it's getting late and I think this place is going to close soon. We should probably head back," Judai said as he looked at his watch. It read 4:30pm.

Johan sighed at he tried his best to put on a happy face. "Yeah… right… We should probably head back," Johan replied, trying not to sound too disappointed.

The two headed to the exit of the aquarium. Before leaving, Judai hopped into the gift shop to pick up a few souvenirs for his family and friends. Johan waited outside as Judai looked around the shop. He was bummed that his perfect confession did not go over like he had expected it to. As he waited, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Ruby keychain. Holding it by its ring, he held it up and studied it in detail. He noticed that the jewel on the tail of the figure was in fact made from a round piece of red glass so that it resembled Ruby's real tail. Johan could not help but smile as he looked at the keychain. 'Maybe…. Maybe not all hope is lost,' he thought as he twirled the Ruby around in his fingers.

Just then Judai popped out of the shop. "Okay, all done! Are you ready to go?" Judai sang as found his best friend.

Johan jumped a bit in surprise. "Oh right! Let's go," Johan replied as he placed the keychain back into his pocket.

The two boys then made their way out of the building and to the parking lot. Once they arrived at Judai's bike, they readied themselves and took of out of the parking lot. Johan hugged his arms around Judai's waist as they road home. For a slight second he pretended that the confession had gone well, that he and Judai were dating and that hugging Judai was okay. He closed his eyes as he took in Judai's sent. It was the best smell in the world to him and the thought that he had almost confessed to this person ran through his head. For the whole ride Johan tried his best to fight back the tears that threatened to run down his face.

Once they got to school, Judai pulled into the parking lot by Johan's dorm. They both dismounted the bike to ready themselves to say goodbye. Johan pulled off his helmet and handed it to Judai. "Um, thanks for coming with me… I was really happy to spend the day with you," Johan said as he watched Judai take his own helmet off.

"Yeah, it was great, but that old lady and her kids were crazy. I couldn't help but feel like she was following us," Judai joked as he placed his helmet on his bike seat. He then turned back to Johan. "Thank you so much for taking me along. I really did have a great time," Judai said as he took a few steps closer to Johan.

"Yeah I know what you mean," Johan said looking nervously to the side. 'I can't believe the date is over… and I never even got to confess,' Johan thought as he studied the bush that was next to them.

"Well, I better let you go then…" Judai said, not understanding why Johan seemed so sad. 'Maybe he didn't have as good of a time as I did,' Judai thought with worry.

"Yeah… I have homework and stuff," Johan lied as he took a step back, his heart sinking with very movement.

"Yeah… well see ya," Judai said letting loss a big sigh. He turned back to his bike but as he did so, he felt a strong hand wrap itself around his wrist.

"Wait!" Johan demanded, not quite knowing what he was doing. "I…. I have… I have some something to tell you!"

Judai turned on the spot so that he was now facing Johan. He turned his head to the side, curious as to what was bothering his best friend. "Is something wrong?" Judai asked.

"I… Um… Yes… Something is wrong…. Well maybe it's wrong," Johan said as he let go of Judai's wrist and took his hand instead. He looked up from the ground and made eye contact with his crush. "You see Judai… there is something I have been meaning to tell you but… But have not been able to," Johan explained as he tried to find the right words.

"Tell me?" Judai said, now even more curious as to what it could be.

"Y-yes. You see… for a long time now… "Johan paused as he readies himself to finally confess. He looked deep into Judai's eyes as he tried to find the courage to say what needed to be said. "For a long time now, my feelings for you have… be changing," he explained as his green eyes softened with love.

"Changing?" Judai questioned as he tried to place the strange look he saw in Johan's eyes.

"Yes, you see, for a long time now… Since about summer… my feelings for you have changed…" Johan paused for a second as he thought about how to explain what he meant. "You see Judai… When I am around you… My heart beats so fast, almost out of control even," and to prove his point Johan held Judai's hand up to his chest so that the burnet could feel his heart.

Judai's eyes widened as he felt Johan's heart beating madly against his cheat. It felt almost as if his best friend's heart was going to break lose at any second. "Johan…" Judai whispered as he tried to comprehend what was going on. He looked from his hand back to Johan's green eyes. He was lost and confused as to what was going on.

"My heart… It does this every time I am near you… or even when I merely think about you," Johan carried on as he spilled out all the emotions he had been holding in all this time. "and when you touch me… just a simple touch of your hand against mine… it sends shivers down my spine and warms my body … sometimes I even feel like I am going to pass out," Johan said as his breathing started to increase.

Judai felt his body go numb as he listened to his best friend's words. 'What… What is he talking about?' Judai thought, barely able to understand what was being said.

Johan then tugged on Judai's hand so that he could get Judai's full attention. Taking one step closer to Judai so that he was only centimeters away he leaned in close, his green eyes never breaking contact with Judai's brown ones. "You see Judai. I know for sure that what I am feeling for you is love. I am in love with you Judai…I love you," Johan said as he closed his eyes and planted a sweet kiss on the brunet's lips, he could not help but lightly wisp his tongue over Judai's bottom lip as he kissed him.

At hearing Johan's words Judai's eyes widened as a wave of unknown emotions overtook his. He then pulled back before Johan's kiss, not comprehending what was happening. Judai felt his heart rate increase and his palms become sweaty. His mind started spinning out of control as he took in what had been said to him. He pulled his hand from Johan and took a step back. "Wait, what? You love me? Like love, love?" Judai said, sounding angrier then he meant to.

Johan eyes shot open in shock at he looked to his crush. "J-Judai… I," Johan stuttered as he felt shame and embarrassment overtake his being.

"I though… I thought you were my best friend… how?" Judai said, not having much control over his own words, actions or emotions.

"Wait… I … I can… I can explain," Johan desperately said as he took a timid step towards Judai and reached his hand out to his crush.

Judai stepped back as Johan took his step towards him. Judai's heart was pounding against his chest and his cheeks felt like they were on fire. Was he angry at Johan? No! This didn't feel like anger. What as it then? "I… but… and this…. What…"Judai mumbled incoherently to himself as he looked to the floor. "I thought…" he trailed off as he looked from the floor back to Johan. What he saw almost crushed his heart.

The sunset reflected perfectly off of Johan's green eyes causing them to shine like gems. Johan stood in front of Judai, his gem like eyes were full of sorrow and rejection. He had been so sure that Judai had felt the same way he did. How could it turn out this way? "I… I'm so sorry," Johan whimpered as he tried to fight the tears that were already gathering at the side of his eyes. "I… I'm sorry," Johan repeated as a single tear travelled down his soft cheek. Johan then turned on his heels and ran to his dorm, not daring to turn back and look at Judai.

All Judai could do was stare in utter shock as he watched the most important person in his life run away. Was that a tear that he saw? Had he made Johan cry? 'But I also… I also… love….' Judai's mind drifted as his heart beat grew heavier and heavier against his chest. 'Go! Go! Go after him! Tell him you are not mad! Hold him and tell him everything is okay,' Judai's mind screamed as he stood there like a tree, his body not moving.

"Aren't you going to go after him," came a voice from within Judai.

"Yubel… I," Judai said as he slowly came back to reality. "What have I…"

"It's not too late you know…" was all Yubel said before disappearing into Judai yet again.

"What should I… do?" Judai whispered as he felt an overwhelming sadness overtake his being.

((Yeah, so there you have it… Chapter 11! Done! All done! Please don't hurt me! I just… I had to do it! It came to me and I really wanted to write a fic where… Judai messes up and has to win Johan back. Now the question is… What is Judai going to do? Is he going to win Johan back? Will there be anything in his way stopping him for getting to Johan? And if so, how is he going to get through this obstacle? You will just have to keep reading and find out!

I want to thank you all once again for the great feedback! I am so happy to hear what you all have to say. It really does bring me joy and make my writing worthwhile. Thank you all so much for being so supportive and letting me know what you think :) Please keep on giving me feedback! I always look forward to it!

And to dear JaydenNg sorry for getting your name wrong ^_^; oops! I think the 'Y' is very nice in your name! I am also so happy to know that you enjoy this silly old story so much! I am also excited to see your art! Fan art is one of my favorite things about a fandom and I am just so touched that something form this story you inspire you to make art! YAY! So thank you!

I also want to thank my beta Judaisbutt. She really helped me out this time in writing how Judai would react to a situation like this. My first try almost made Judai seem cruel so thanks for pointing that out for me!

Also I want to add that once this fic is done, I will be writing another story. The next one is not going to be spirit shipping (well maybe a little) but it's going to revolve around the origins of the Supreme King, Yubel, the Gentle Darkness and the Light of Destruction. That is all I am going to tell you for now about my next project but I am really excited about writing it. I didn't realize till now, but there is so much creative potential when it comes to Judai's past life. I really hope that once this story is done, you all find the time to read the next story.

Sorry for the crazy long author note! There is just so much I want to say to you all!

Well, I will see you next time!))

((Sorry I forgot to address the *

Tamagoyaki- Japanese omelet... its rolled.

Chicken Karaage- Friend Chicken... Japanese style ;D

Inairizushi- Riced rapped in soybean curd... its sound odd but it's really good, and kind of sweet

Ebi Fry- Friend Shrimp... It has bread crumbs on the outside and it not tempura 3

Bento- Lunch Box... Japanese style

Itadakimasu- It's what they say before they eat in Japan!

Okay... I think that's it... sorry about forgetting all this /))


	13. Chapter 12

((Hello everyone! Long time no see right! Sorry this chapter took so long. I was out in Tokyo for about a week and a half, and then it took me about one week after that to write this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! I'm sorry if the characters seem a little OOC. To me, when it comes to love with Judai and Johan, it is up in the air since we never really get to see how they deal with these sorts of emotions in the show.

I do not own Yugioh GX

Also, this chapter has yet to be read by my beta. She has been busy and I was too impatient to wait. If I see any big problems later, I will probably re-upload the chapter again XD. I tried my best to find and fix any mistakes. Please enjoy chapter 12! ))

Chapter 12

Johan shot down the hall to his room as tears flowed down his soft cheeks; he dare not look back. His mind was in a blur and it felt as if his heart was going to explode from his body. The images of Judai's confused and upset face ran through his mind as he ran. He knew it would hurt but he didn't know it was going to hurt this bad. When he got to his room he desperately fiddled with his backpack to extract his key. Once said key was found he juggled it in his hands before shoving it into the lock, swung the door open and practically leaping into his room.

The door slammed behind him but Johan didn't take any notice. A loud sob escaped his throat as he threw his backpack to the couch. Suddenly, he remembered that he was probably not alone. He looked around the room to find that he was alone, Bret was nowhere to be seen. A strange sense of relief spread through him when he saw that Bret was out. He needed to be alone.

Tears still streaming down his cheeks, Johan kicked off his shoes and dragged himself to his bed, plopping down face first when he got to it. He buried his head into his soft pillow and sobbed silently in an attempt to ease the pain. After a while, his sobbing let up and reduced to light sniffling. Johan rolled onto his back and gazed up at the ceiling, his eyes were red and puffy and his vision was blurred. "G-Get a-a h-hold of y-y-your s-self," Johan silently said through broken sniffles. Not only did he feel completely rejected but he also felt immensely embarrassed. How could he, Johan Anderson, be crying over some heartbreak; like some middle school student. It was hard for him to think clearly at the moment. He felt as if he was not even alive anymore, like his body and mind were weightless and something invisible and heavy was pressed against his chest, making it hard for him to breath. 'Judai probably think that I'm creepy for liking him and pathetic for crying like this…' Johan thought as a big shaky sigh escaped his lungs. Johan knew that crying and getting emotional like this was not like him, but the dull pain in his heart brought tears to his emerald eyes. "What am I going to do…?" he whispered as he wiped the never ending tears from his beautiful face. He felt like he was lost at sea on some deserted island; without any idea on how to keep himself alive.

"Rubii~" Johan practically pissed his pants from surprise when he heard the cry of his dear duel monster, Ruby Carbuncle. Johan looked to the right from where he lay to see big red worried eyes gazing at him. The little duel monster cocked its head to the side as it studied its dear master. "Biiii~" she cooed as she scooted closer to hear dear friend.

"Oh Rudy… How could I have been so stupid…? I should have known that he would…." Johan whispered but choked on a sob before he could finish his sentence.

"Biiii~" Ruby purred in a soothing tone and leaned over in an attempt to lap the tears from Johan's delicate cheeks.

"Oh Ruby…" Johan said as a few more tears raced down his cheeks. He reached his hand up as if to pet the sweet little beast behind the ears. "Thank you," he whispered as a sad smile spread across his tearstained face.

A sudden wave of exhaustion swept over Johan. The day had been long and emotional. Both Johan's vision and mind was a blur; he was barely able to think straight. His heart was weighed down by a heavy pain that felt like it would never lift. With what little strength he had, Johan shifted around until he was under his covers, lifting them a bit so that Ruby could join him. With one arm draped over his little duel beast, he silently cried until he fell into a dreamless sleep.

At around 9pm the door to Johan's room swung open. Johan's yellow eyed roommate swaggered into the room expecting to find himself alone. He had left for the day in an attempt to keep his mind busy. He slapped on the light to his side of the room and was surprised when he found that someone was in Johan's bed. At first he wondered if he had entered the wrong room. He walked closer to his room mate's bed wondering who the sleeping person was. To his surprise he found the Johan was the person sleeping in the bed. Bret had been certain that Johan was going to spent the night with his boyfriend, so why was Johan here and not with Judai.

'It couldn't be… could it…?' Bret thought as guilty hope burned in his heart. He then looked closer at Johan's sleeping face. He noticed right away that the boy's eyes were puffy and red, and that his cheeks were wet. He looked closer to see that tears were building up at the corner of Johan's eyes as he slept. It pained Bret to see his sweet roommate in such a mess. He felt ashamed for the hope that was growing in his heart. He cared for Johan and new better than to celebrate the boy's rejection.

"Sorry, Johan… I thought he would say yes for sure… I guess he really is a fool," Bret whispered as he gently wiped a tear from Johan soft cheek. He then looked around the room, deciding on what he should do. He wanted to be there for Johan when the boy woke up, in case Johan needed a shoulder to cry on. 'My shoulder is perfect for that,' Bret thought with a smirk. He then decided to take a shower and spend the rest of the evening on his computer. He would be sure to comfort Johan in the morning.

XXXX

Judai lay silently in his bed as his mind ran over the day he had just spent with the boy he thought was his best friend. He spent the whole day with Johan at the aquarium. He could not help but remember how radiant Johan seemed throughout the day. The day went by wonderfully, that is, until the very end. Johan had confessed his true feelings. He had told Judai that he loved him. And Judai felt just rotten for the way he had reacted. He had been confused at first. He did not know what to make of Johan's words. They caused a strange warm numbness to spread through his body. He felt like he had lost all control of himself. By the time he regained some control, it was too late. The sad look in Johan's gem green eyes melted Judai's heart. Judai never, in all his life, wanted to see such a face on his dear Johan. Not only had he hurt his dear Johan, but he had made the boy cry. Judai always thought that the idea of tuff Johan crying would be funny and cute, but there was nothing funny or cute about this at all. Just the idea made Judai want to cry, too.

When Judai watched Johan run away, an overwhelming need to hold the teal haired boy overtook Judai. The only problem was that the numbness in his body had yet to fully wear off. His mind had clearer but his body had been stiff as a board. He had badly wanted to chase after Johan and comfort him. In the end, Judai had taken the cowards rout and gone home without so much as trying to chase after Johan. Judai felt ashamed for not going after his dear Johan. He should have, but he didn't. He was scared to face the boy, knowing that he had been the one that hurt him so bad. Judai wondered if there was any hope. Had he ruined any chance with his dear Johan because of this incident? Judai was too confused and inexperienced in this field to know. If it were a scuffle between friends, then he knew the relationship would be fine but love always felt a little different from a simple friendship. Was it too late to fix what was broken?

"Bringing pain to the person you love… Is this a hobby of yours?" Yubel said in a flat tone as her spirit floated lazily next to Judai's bed. She knew that her words were not kind but she was not one to hide the truth from the boy she cared so much about. She knew first hand that Judai could be very cold to the people he cared for the most.

"Yubel…" Judai said in a sad voice, too down to even think of a witty comeback. He knew that Yubel was right. He always seemed to mess up big time when it came to the people he cared for.

Yubel looked to Judai, studying the sad and confused look on the poor boys face. She knew that Judai never intended to hurt Johan in such a way and that Judai was probably hurting just as much. "Look, it's not too late… I am sure he would be more than willing to hear you out if you tried to talk to him…" Yubel said nonchalantly. She could not stand seeing her poor Judai in such a state. Half of her blamed Johan for just running away like he did.

"You saw the look in his eyes… I bet he never wants to see me again…" Judai huffed as a strange pain he had never experienced spread from his heart.

"What makes you think that…? If he really does love you like he said he did… then he is probably waiting for you…" Yubel said the last part in a whisper as she stared off into space.

Judai shifted in his bed a bit as he listened to Yubel. Maybe she was right. Maybe if he met with Johan they could sort out their feelings. The only problem was that Judai did not know how he felt. He knew that he cared for Johan, and did not want to see Johan cry. He knew that he often spends hours a day thinking about the teal haired boy. Recently, whenever he is with Johan all he wants to do is touch him. The thought of spending every day and every night with Johan was very appealing to Judai. The idea of waking up in the morning to a sleeping Johan made Judai's heart flutter madly in his chest. 'D-Do I love him back?' Judai thought as he reviewed all his feelings for the boy in his head. He then remembered the brief kiss they shared before Judai had stupidly broke it. Johan's lips had been soft and warm. The tease of the kiss was something Judai longed to try again. It had a sweet flavor with a bit of spice, like cinnamon. Judai knew that taste. He remembered it from somewhere, but where?

"You know, that was not the first time he kissed you," Yubel said, as if she could read Judai's mind. Weather she could or not, Judai did not know.

"Wait… What did you say?" Judai said, now sitting up and looking at Yubel.

"I said, that this was not the first time he has kissed you," Yubel repeated sounding a bit annoyed. She had no clue why she was telling Judai this. Back in October, she had decided to stay out of the whole affair.

"What do you mean… This was the first time….? I don't remember any other time... where he…" Judai said this all as he tried to think of another time he had shared a kiss with Johan.

"He stole a kiss from you once… when you were sleeping… back during Halloween…" Yubel spoke in a low voice, almost regretting telling the boy, but she knew Judai had a right to know.

"He… He did?" Judai asked as he held a hand to his lips. Yubel only nodded in response. Judai thought for a bit as he tried to remember what had gone on that night. "I remember… that he left in a hurry… was it… because he kissed me?" Judai asked as he recalled how the two had fallen asleep together in bed.

"Yeah… he practically ate your face too…" Yubel hissed as she recalled the act.

Judai sat in silence as he recalled what had happened that morning. He remembers waking up to find an enchanting taste on his lips that he longed to try again. He then remembered the dream he had about the teal cake. It had the same tastes that he long for so much. He had spent months since then searching for that wonderful flavor and he finally found it. The thing he had been longing for all this time was not a cake at all but… "Johan," Judai whispered as he finally realized how much he yearned to be with the boy. "I think… I think… I love him… too," Judai said in a partially spaced out tone as a rush of emotions fill his core. Judai knew now that he needed to tell Johan how he really felt. He could not bear the idea of losing the person he only just realized he loved.

"Don't mess it up," Yubel whispered as a sad smile spread across her face. Yubel had learned her lesson about keeping Judai all to herself. Though she did not like the idea of sharing the boy's affections, she knew that she had to let him go.

"I… I promise that I won't!" Judai replied, a determined smiled was slowly spreading across his face. 'I should just go and see him now,' he thought as he looked at the clock and saw that it was 1am. He thought a moment more and decided to leave early the next morning. Judai would let Johan sleep, so that his new found crush's mind could be clear when he confesses to him.

XXX

Judai woke latter then he meant to on Sunday morning. It had been hard for him to sleep the night before. Making the decision to confront Johan with his feelings was the easy part; the hard part was finding a way to do so. He had sat up till almost 3am thinking of the right things to say. He had eventually fallen asleep with no real plan in mind. He would just waltz up to Johan's room, knock on the door, and then tackle Johan with his love. 'It will work! It's full proof,' Judai thought to himself as he rolled over in bed and looked at the clock, it read 10am.

Judai pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the shower. He had neglected to take one the day before and felt he should at least smell good when he confronts Johan. After his shower he dress in his normal outfit; black shirt, jacket, and jeans. Without eating breakfast, he made his way across campus to Johan's dorm. He spent the whole time trying to think of what to say. 'Should I say sorry first and then tell him my feelings? Maybe that would be best,' he thought as he entered Johan's dorm building. He made his way to Johan's floor and down the hall to the teal haired boy's room.

As Judai got closer to Johan's room, a funny feeling overtook his being. He felt, nervous, very nervous. His stomach was aching a bit and his heart was pounding like crazy. 'Is this how Johan felt when he confessed to me?' Judai thought as he arrived in front of Johan's door. 'What if he rejects me…' Judai shook the horrible thought from his mind as he readied himself to knock on the door. 'Yubel was right, if Johan really does have feeling for me, then he would surely give me a second chance!'

Judai took a sharp breath as he lifted his hand up and knocked on the door. His knock echoed through the hall, exaggerating how quiet the surrounding area was. Judai waited and listened for any sound on the other side of the door but did not hear a thing. He lifted his hand again and knocked a bit harder. 'Maybe he is still sleeping,' he thought as he listened yet again for any sign of life.

Judai jumped when he heard a small shuffling sound and the creaking of a door being opened. The only problem was, the said sound was not coming from the door he had just knocked on. "He is gone!" came a croaky voice from behind him.

Judai nearly pissed himself as he turned to find tired looking brown eyes gazing at him from a small crack in the door across from Johan's room. The door sign read 'Welcome to the Lair of Miguel Bubbles'. Judai had never seen any sign of life from Johan's neighbor and surely never expected to meet the person in such a manner. Judai sat in utter silence as he tried to find his voice. "W-Whaaat?" was all he was able to get out once he found his voice.

The person opened the door wider to reveal a short girl with long straight black hair and baggy clothes. Her eyes were round and brown and she wore round thick rimmed glasses. Judai noticed that the girl didn't seem to blink much. "I said, that he is gone! He left not 5 minutes ago with that noisy roommate of his," the girl repeated as she wiped her nose with her sleeve, never breaking eye contact with Judai.

Judai could not help but feel a bit freaked out by this girl. There was something about her that was unsettling, like she knew exactly what was going on without having been there. He cleared his mind of his paranoia of this girl and thought for a second as he reviewed what had just been said to him. Then it dawned on him. 'Johan was out with BRET!? ALONE!?' Judai thought as his eyes dangerously flashed gold. An image of Bret whispering sweet nothing and wiping tears from Johan's crystal eyes flashed through Judai's mind. Something in Judai knew that Johan was in too venerable of a state to be alone with that yellow eyed beast. "He… Left…. With his roommate…?" Judai questioned in a low dangerous voice.

The girl did not seem fazed by the threatening tone in Judai's voice. "Yes, Johan left with his roommate… and I think two girls from down the hall," she said as she removed her glasses from her face and wiped the lenses with her sleeve.

"Thank god…" Judai whispered as he felt a rush of relief over take him. Having others around would hopefully prevent the worst from happening.

"Yeah, he looked pretty horrible today too. His eyes were all red and puffy, like he had been crying all night. His hair was unkempt, his outfit mismatched, he had this hopeless look about him… He was just a hot mess," the girl listed off as she placed her gassed back onto her face. "He is normally such a happy and bright person…I wonder what got him so upset?" she questioned with a sigh.

Judai felt a wave of guilt rush through his body. 'Had Johan been crying all night long. Had I really hurt him that bad?' Judai thought as he felt his heart beat heavily in his chest. "What… What have I don't…?" he unintentionally whispered aloud.

"Pardon?" said the strange girl as she leaned in closer and studied Judai. "What's with the long face? Did he leave you behind?" she asked, assuming that the group had left without Judai.

"I sure hope not…" Judai replied in a soft voice, not really taking the question in the way it was meant to be taken. 'Johan wouldn't just leave me… would he?' Judai thought as he looked too the floor.

"You know, there is still time, if you hurry. I bet you can catch him," she prompted in an attempt to brighten the brown haired boy's spirits. She knew what it was like to be left behind by a group of friends.

"Yeah… I just hope it's not too late," Judai whispered as he looked from the floor to the girl. He thought for a second as the strange girl's words danced in his head. "No… You're right! It's not too late… It's not like he has left me yet! If I work fast, I am sure to find a way to win him back," Judai said as he stared deep into the girls round eyes. "Thank you… for the advice," he added with a nod. He then turned on his heel and made his way back to his dorm. He would come back again, and next time he would have a better plan to woo Johan.

The girl's confused wide eyes followed Judai down the hall. She had no clue what the boy meant by 'win him back'. "What a strange young man," she mumbled as she shook her head and went back into her room.

XXX

Judai has spent the majority of Sunday afternoon trying to find a good way to win back Johan. Yubel had reluctantly suggested looking up ideas on his computer, since Judai didn't know the first thing about courtship. Judai had thought about confronting his friends but decided against it for now. He would try it on his own first. This was his problem, not theirs. He had made a list of ideas that he had come up with from his research; stuffed animals, chocolate, flowers, home made goods. The whole list did not sit too well with him, but then again, what did he know about courting. Johan had made him lunch in an attempt to win his heart and Judai was almost sure it had worked; since he was so in love with Johan now and all.

After a while of thinking, Judai had decided to make a cake for Johan. Though Judai did not know the first thing about baking, he had read that 'the quickest way to a man's heart, is through his stomach' and Judai was almost 100% convinced that it was true. Not wanting to bother any of his friends, Judai decided to try and bake the cake on his own. It was not like he was fully alone; he had Yubel. She was smart and could shoot fireballs.

XXX

"Oh Judai! I thought you learned how to make a simple cake in your Home Ec class back in high school! Did you forget everything?" Yubel snapped as she tried to figure out which was bigger, a table spoon or a tea spoon.

After deciding on making the cake, Judai wasted no time and ran out to get all the ingredients. He had returned and immediately started making the cake. He wanted it done in time for the next day. It was about 8pm now and the two had been at it for about an hour. They had 'successfully' mixed together the wet ingredients. Since Judai was making a white cake, he was meant to separate the whites of the egg from the yolk. Judai had been able to, sort of, do it and only a few eggshells broke into the mixture. At the moment they were measuring out the dry ingredients. Judai's face and clothing were covered in a light dusting of flour and blobs of butter were smeared across his face. "Of course I remember some things…. I just… My class was in Japanese… All these new words… I just," Judai retorted as he held up a handful of various measuring spoons.

"Good lord boy, it's just baking powder! I bet it's not even that important! Just put some in! I am sure it will be fine!" Yubel finally shouted, giving up on deciding which measuring spoon was which. She did not know the first think about baking and was starting to feel exasperated. Despite the fact that she wanted to leave Judai to do this on his own, she could not bring herself to do so.

"Fine, fine! You're probably right," Judai snapped as he took a tablespoon measure and dumped three heaping scoops of the white power into the flour mixture. "Next is the salt!" Judai stated as he picked up a salt shaker. Judai had no clue why one would add salt to a cake. Not really dwelling on the thought, he took a tiny pinch of salt and added it to the dry mixture. "You think that's enough salt?" he asked as he looked to Yubel.

"How am I supposed to know," Yubel replied in a flat tone.

Judai shrugged as he picked up a fork and quickly stirred together the dry ingredients. "Okay, so next it says…. while mixing your wet ingredients, on medium low…. Slowly add the dry to the wet," Judai stated as he read from the recipe. He looked from the recipe to Yubel with a confused expression.

Yubel rolled her two toned eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I think it wants you to add the dry a little bit at a time as you mix the wet," she said after reading the step once more.

"Why…? Isn't that going to take more time," Judai said as he tilted his head to the side.

"I don't know," Yubel replied with a shrug. "But you best do it if you want this cake to turn out well," she then added.

With a deep sigh Judai added a scoop of flour to the wet mixture and turned on the hand mixer. After about 30 seconds he added more flour, and then after another minute he added even more flour. This was becoming way too boring and taking way too long in Judai's opinion. With half the flour left, Judai gave into his impatient and dumped it all into the wet mixture. "Well, maybe if I turn the speed up a bit," he then mumbled as he set the hand mixer from setting 3 to setting 8. A puff of powder and batter exploded from the bowl as the mixer spun out of control in Judai's hand. "WHAHAAAAAA! TURN IT OFF! TUNR IT OFF!" Judai shouted as he pulled the mixer from the bowl, bits of batter and flour flying everywhere.

"I CAN'T! I'M UNABLE TO TOUCH THINGS IN THIS WORLD," Yubel replied in just as much panic as Judai.

After a moment Judai came to his senses and switched the mixer from 8 to off. He looked around the room. There were bits of flour and batter everywhere. He then reluctantly looked in the blow. To his surprise a good amount of batter was left. "Thank god," he sighed, not wanting to remix everything again. He then took the mixer in his hand, placed it into the batter, put it to level 3 and carried on mixing.

Yubel sat in utter shock as she watched Judai, who was covered head to toe in cake batter, as he carried on making the cake. "What are you doing?" she huffed in shock.

"What do you mean?" Judai asked as he turned off the mixer.

"It all just exploded… and you… just carry on… making it?" Yubel asked.

"Umm… yeah," Judai simply replied.

Yubel slapped her hand to her face. "Sometimes you just…" She sighed but gave up halfway. She should have known.

Judai then added the batter to an un-greased pan. The batter had some lumps in it, but Judai naively assumed that they would bake out. "Okay… so it says to bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for… about 30 minutes," Judai stated as he set the timer and the heat. He had forgotten to preheat the oven, but he figured it was not a big deal. Judai was also starting to understand Fahrenheit since moving to America. He then popped the pan into the oven and closed the oven door. "So, how about we make that frosting," he said with a satisfied smile.

Yubel rubbed her face in her hands. "I knew we should have just bought the pre-made stuff," she huffed more to herself than anyone.

"Did you say something?" Judai asked as he prepared the ingredients for the frosting.

"No… No… Let's just get this over with," Yubel sighed as she hovered over Judai's shoulder.

Judai spent the rest of the night finishing off the cake. The frosting did not take too long. He had decided to add a bit of green and blue food color to the white frosting so that it resembled the cake from his dream. Yubel had talked him out of frosting the cake that night. She stated that the cake was far too hot and all the frosting would just melt off. After a bit of bickering, Judai decided Yubel was right. He would wake up early, frost the cake, and before his first class, he would present the cake to Johan. "This is going to be perfect," Judai thought as he lay in bed, his heart full of hope.

XXX

The next day Judai woke at around 7am to ready his surprise for Johan. With his body and mind fully rested, he started to frost the cake. The frosting was not exactly the right teal color he had wanted. It was a bit greener than Johan's beautiful hair. The sponge part of the cake was dryer than the cake in his dream but Judai did not worry too much about it. He frosted the cake as best he could. Once he was done frosting the cake he wrote a small message on top of it in red piping frosting that he got at the grocery store. In big sloppy letters his message read 'I'm sorry! I love you too,' and was surrounded by sloppy hearts. Judai stood back and looked at his creation. The bottom layer of the cake was a bit wider than the top layer. Some of the frosting on the sides was threatening to melt off and the red piping frosting bled a bit and was staining the teal frosting around it to a brownish purple color. Judai did not seem to mind these small flaws on the cake. To him, it looked just fine. Judai nodded his head as he looked over the cake. He then remembered that he had forgotten something important. "The sprinkles," he hissed as he dug through the bag of ingredients for the rainbow crystal sprinkles he bought yesterday. He vigorously shook the sprinkles all over the cake.

Once satisfied with the amount of sprinkles, he stepped back once again and looked at his creation. It's blobbish form glittered as the sun's light shown down on it from the window. Judai had to admit that it was nothing like his dream cake but it still looked pretty good in his opinion. "So, what do you think," he asked Yubel, his voice full of satisfaction.

Yubel appeared beside Judai and looked at the creation. At first sight of the cake her face fell into an unsatisfied grimace. She looked from the cake to Judai and felt guilty; Judai's bright brown eyes shown hopefully in the light as he looked into Yubels two toned eyes. "It… It's really… nice…"she lied, unable to find a more convincing compliment.

"Do you really think so? Do you think he will like it," Judai said with a childish grin.

Yubel looked form Judai to the cake. "I think….It's the thought that counts in the end… I am sure he will be touched," Yubel finally said after a few moments of thinking. She did not have the heart to tell Judai that she would never eat the cake, even if you paid her.

"Great!" Judai said as he sprang to the cake and readied to for its journey to Johan's dorm. "You know… I really hope this works… I don't like this… knowing that he is so sad…" Judai said, his voice full of emotion. He gazed sadly at the cake as he remembered what that stranger girl had told him yesterday. 'I wonder if he is still crying…' Judai thought as he put the wrapped up cake into a bag.

He then picked up the cake and made his way out of the room. The walk to Johan's dorm took no time at all. Judai was full of so much adrenalin it felt like time was just flying by, like everything was in fast forward. "Okay, you can do this! This time he will be home! I know it," Judai said as he stood in front of the door that housed the boy he loved. With the cake in one hand, he used his free hand to knock on the door. He gave three hearty knock. Just like yesterday, the knocks echoed down the hall. He listened carefully for any sound.

Judai felt his heart skip a beat when he thought he heard a scuffling noise coming from the other side of the door. "Johan! Johan! Are you in there?!" Judai shouted as he knocked on the door again. "It's me! Judai! We need to talk! I have to tell you something!" Judai pleaded as he banged on the door. He then stopped banging and listened. He didn't hear anything this time. Maybe Johan wasn't home. Judai looked down at the cake and sighed. "What do I do now…?" he asked no one. "I could wait here…" he said aloud as he looked up and down the hallway. He then realized that he had no clue what Johan's schedule was. For all he knew, Johan won't be back until late. After a bit more thinking Judai decided to leave the cake at the door. 'Maybe he will find it…. Read my message… and call me…' Judai thought eagerly as he placed the cake by the door. He then found a paper and a pen from his backpack and wrote a sloppy message '_Dear Johan, Please forgive me! I made this cake just for you- Judai_'. He then placed the note on top of the cake. He let loose a big sigh as he studied the cake on the floor. "I won't give up… Not yet," He stated as stood back up. He then made his way back to his dorm as he tried to think of other ways to woo Johan.

XXX

Later that morning, everyone's favorite purple haired, yellowed eyed, Casanova came strolling down the hall to his room. He had a heavy swagger in his step and whistled aimlessly as he walked. When he got to his door his yellow eyes immediately caught sight of the package in front of his room. "What's this….?" He muttered as he picked up the note and the cake. He then let himself into his room with both the cake and the note in hand. As he placed the cake on the table by the couch he read the note aloud. "Dear Johan, Please forgive me! I made this cake just for you.- Judai…" Bret could not help but grimace as he finished reading the note. He had yet to forgive Judai for dumping Johan in such a cruel way. Though it did make Bret's chances with Johan that much more likely, he had to put up with seeing the boy mope and cry for the past day and a half. "You think a stupid cake and a simple 'I'm sorry' is going to get you off the hook? Sorry, bro, but you are going to have to try better than that," Bret mutter to himself as he tore up Judai's letter and tossed it into the trash on his side of the room.

He then turned back to the cake, curious to see what it was like. He pulled it out of the bag and unwrapped it. He was disgusted by what he saw. The red writing on the cake had practically melted all over the teal frosting and sprinkles. Instead of being a beautiful teal cake, it was now a snot brown cake with some teal frosting on the sides. Bret studied the cake as he tried to control his gag reflex. 'Did he make this?' he thought as he looked over the cake. He then noticed some writing on the top of the cake. '_I'm sorry! I love you too_,' was what he read. He shook his head as he stuck his fingers through the writing, mixing it with the snot colored frosting so that it could not be read. "Poor fool," was all Bret uttered as he licked the frosting from his fingers. Despite the nasty color, the frosting did not taste half bad.

With a heavy sigh, Bret made his way over to his desk and sat down in front of his computer. He turned it on and started fiddling around on the internet. He felt a little bad for what he had done but as far as he was concerned, Judai had his chance and blew it. Why should he help his love rival?

XXX

Johan had felt just horrible since his date with Judai. All he could think about was his crush, if he could even call him a crush now. A crush is someone you have a chance with, but know Johan knew his chance was over. He had spent all of Saturday night crying and when he woke up the next morning his cheeks were still wet with tears. On Sunday, Bret had dragged him out saying that he 'needed fresh air'. Johan had wanted to spend the day alone, but with coaxing from both Bret, Liz, and a little form Jasmine, he had agreed to join them out for lunch. He tried his best while out with his friends to be happy, but his heart was still heavy with sorrow. Johan never imagined that he could become so attached to someone like he is with Judai, but then again, Johan had never been in love before.

As for today, he had woken up early and went for a run. He had pushed his body so hard, that he was barely able to think about his problems. Though a morning run had been a good distraction, his morning science class only reminded him of the date he had with Judai at the aquarium. Every time he thinks about that day, he can't help but wonder what went wrong. He thought for sure that Judai had some sort of feeling for him, but from the way Judai had reacted to his confession, it was evident that Judai had never viewed Johan as more than a friend.

The gem beasts had pointed out to Johan that Judai had yet to officially turn Johan down. They had seen the whole thing. Sapphire Pegasus felt that Judai was merely shocked and that Johan had run away prematurely. Amethyst Cat felt that Johan was far too good for Judai and that Judai was a stupid fool. Despite all the wise advice and support he received from his dear family, Johan's heart and mind were still too jumbled to face Judai.

Johan pulled out his key from his bag and unlocked the door to his dorm room. It was noon now and he had a few hours till his next class. "I'm back," Johan greeted as he entered the room. Though it was hard, when he was around others, he kept on a strong face.

"Welcome back, Doll Face. You feeling any better?" Bret asked as he turned in his chair and faced Johan.

"Yeah… I umm… am feeling much better today," Johan lied, as an awkward fake smile spread across his face. Unable to keep eye contact with Bret, Johan looked for a distraction. He then noticed the hideous cake that was sitting on the table by the couch. "What's that," he asked as he approached the snot green blob.

"Oh… um… its… a cake…" Bret said as he tried to think of a lie as to where the it came from.

"A cake…?" Johan asked as he shot Bret a suspicious look. "Where did it come from…? Did you make it…?" Johan asked as he looked back to the cake.

"What? Me? N-no! I think it… it's from a secret admirer," Bret lied with a satisfied nod.

"A secret admirer?" Johan asked as he looked at the cake. He noticed that the top seem smeared, like there had been a message of some sort.

"Yeah… I… I think it's from the girl that's in my Economics class… Yeah… she is always looking at me," Bret lied yet again.

Johan studied Bret as he listened to him speak. "A girl?" he said with a tilt of his head. "Are you going to get with her…?"

"Umm… I don't know… at the moment," Bret said, looking away from Johan. "She is… not really my type," he added.

Johan looked at Bret in silence. "Well, try to be kind when you let her down… it looks like a lot of heart was put into making this cake," Johan said with a soft smile. From some reason Johan really wanted to try the cake, like it was calling to him. "Is it okay if I try a piece of it?" Johan asked.

"Um… Sure… Go ahead… if you're brave enough," Bret said with a shrug. He felt a little bad for lying to Johan. He knew that Johan would be touched and go running to Judai if he knew who really made the cake. Bret knew that he was being selfish, but he could not tell the truth.

Johan got a plate, a fork and knife from a drawer. "Would you like some, too?" Johan asked as he went for a second place.

"Um… Sure, why not…" Bret said with a shrug. He was curious to see if this cake tasted as bad as it looked.

Johan nodded and took a second plate and fork from the drawer. He walked over to the cake and knelt down. He sunk the knife into the cake and noticed that it was a little hard to cut straight through it. The sponge part of the cake was a little dense and dry. He pulled the first slice from the cake and placed it on a plate. He noticed that the frosting in the middle of the cake was a brilliant green teal color. 'Kind of look's familiar,' Johan thought as he cut the second slice of cake and placed it on the second plate. "Here, let's try it together," Johan said as he handed a plate and a fork to Bret.

"Okay," Bret said as he took the plate and fork from Johan.

The two boys each cut off a piece of cake and balanced it on their forks. "Okay, on the count of three…1…2…3," as Johan said three, the two shoved the cake into their mouth. As Johan chewed on the cake an overwhelming feeling overtook him. He felt a rush of secure warmth over take his being, like he was being held by the one he loved, by Judai. He swallowed the piece of cake as a tear fell from his chin onto his plate. He did not even realize he was crying. He dropped his fork and held his hand to his cheek. These tears, they were not sad tears… they were happy tears… but why did he feel happy?

"Wow, this cake is bad but to cry over it tasteless flavored is a bit dramatic," Bret joked as he looked to his roommate. He waited for a reply from Johan but got none. "Hey… you okay?" Bret asked as he studied Johan.

"Huh, What…? No…I… I'm fine," Johan whispered as he wiped the tears from his bright green eyes. Bret was right, the sponge part of the cake was dense, dry and bland, while the frosting was too wet and too sweet, but there was something about the cake that brought Johan to tears; something more than just the flavor and texture. It brought joy to Johan's heart that made him feel warm, secure, accepted, and loved. But why?

"You know you don't have to finish it if you don't want to…" Bret said as he studied the strange, half forlorn, half happy look that was spread across Johan's tear stained face. "I sure as hell am not going to," he added as he tossed his piece into the trash.

Johan jumped from his trance as he saw Bret toss his piece of cake. "Bret! Who ever made this cake for you put a lot of time, effort and heart into it! Don't just throw it away like that!" Johan scolded as he shoved another bit of cake into his mouth. With each bite came that warm comforting feeling. "I, for one, am going to finish every last bite of my piece," Johan said with a nod of his head.

Bret could not help but feel a bit annoyed. The cake tasted like crap but Johan treated it as if it were the best thing he ever ate. Without a word Bret stood up. He picked up the rest of the cake and looked at Johan. "I don't know what you find so enchanting about this blob you call cake! But it is my cake and I will do as I wish with it," Bret said as he walked over to a larger trash can that was situated by the door.

Johan watched in horror as Bret held the cake over his head and dropped it into the larger trash can. As Johan watched the cake fall, he felt something inside him snap. He didn't know why, but the silly cake seemed so precious, like it had been made by someone very important. "Bret! Wha-Why did you…." Johan stuttered as he stared horrified at Bret. "That… you… The person who made it," Johan mumbled, unable to make much sense. Johan himself did not know why he was so emotionally attached to some cake a girl had made for Bret. Maybe it was because he knew how it felt to be rejected by the one you love. "How… how could you be so… heartless," Johan said as he looked deep into Bret's yellow eyes.

Bret could not help but feel utterly rotten for the way he had acted. Not only had he lied to the person he loved, but he also tossed away the confession that said person had been waiting for. Bret knew that if he told Johan that the cake was from Judai, Johan would be happy and all his sorrows would be gone. But Bret could not stand the idea of Johan running to Judai, not after the way Judai had made him cry. Judai does not deserve Johan. It just wasn't fair. "I'm sorry… It's just… complicated," Bret said as he hung his head in shame.

Johan could tell something was wrong with Bret. Bret looked sad and hurt. Maybe Bret's relationship with this secret girl was bigger than he thought. It was not Johan's places to judge Bret on how he handles his relationships. "Listen Bret… I didn't mean-" Johan started to say but was cut off.

"No, no! You're right… I am heartless," Bret said as he shook his head. "I… I have to go to class… Umm I mean… to the library" Bret lied as he gathered some books and left the room.

Johan could not help but feel bad. He had called one of his close friends heartless for simply tossing out a cake. He would have to apologies to Bret later. It was not Johan's place to pressure Bret into accepting the feelings of someone he did not love. Johan also wondered why that cake affected him the way it did. Its taste was just reached but it made him feel loved and cared for. Like whoever made the cake may have been horrible at baking but still put every last ounce of love and emotion into the cake. Johan looked down at his half eaten piece of cake. With a heavy sigh he shoved another bite into his mouth. He smiled as the warm loving feeling spread through his body. He could not help but imagine that he was being embraced by Judai.

XXX

The next two days flew by without much commotion. After the cake incident, Bret had been a bit more aloof towards Johan. Johan had tried to apologize for pressuring Bret but Bret had told Johan not to worry about it. Despite the apology, Johan still felt some tension when talking with his roommate. Johan's crying had died down as well. He still felt immense pain when he thought of Judai but was able to distract himself from doing so throughout the day. Around people he would often laugh and pretend he was alright but when he was alone, he would sometimes cry softly. Most of his crying sessions happened in the shower. Johan longed to see Judai again but images of Judai's disturbed and confused face would flash through Johan's mind and cause him to break down. He could not help but wonder if the pain would ever go away or if it would be with him forever.

It was now late morning on Thursday. Johan and Bret had just returned from their morning classes. Johan had woken up late and had been unable to take a shower before his morning class. He had also neglected to shower the day before. Since his rejection, Johan hated showering because it always caused his mind to wander and remember how broken he really was.

"Hey, no offence Doll Face, but you should really take a shower. You are starting to smell ripe," Bret said as he sniffed the air around Johan, making a sick face.

Johan could not help but blush from embarrassment at Bret's words. He wondered if he had smelt this bad all morning or if Bret was just exaggerating. He lifted his arm to take a smell himself and was surprised as how stinky he really was. He smelt like an old gym sock. "Hehe… Yeah, I guess I should shower off," Johan chuckled as he pulled his head away from his armpit and put his arm down. Despite the fact that showing always left him alone with his damp thoughts, he knew he could not walk around smelling as he did.

"Yes, please, for the both of us," Bret said over dramatically as he plopped down in his seat. Since the morning, Bret tried his best to be as upbeat as possible when around Johan. He knew that, ever since the cake incident, he had been acting a bit cold towards his roommate. It's not that he was mad at Johan, it just frustrated him to no end knowing that Johan was still hung up over that dumb brown haired duelist. 'What's so special about him anyways? I am totally a better choice. I would never make you cry,' Bret stubbornly thought as he watched Johan gather a change of clothes. "So, um… You got any plans for this weekend?" Bret asked as he admired Johan's every move.

Johan ran a hand tthroughhis soft teal hair as he thought about his plans. "Um, I don't think so… well… I was thinking of maybe visiting Risa on Saturday," Johan said with a sigh. What he really wanted to do was see Judai, but he didn't know if his heart was ready for it. He would probably just burst into uncontrollable tears and freak Judai out.

"Mind if I join you?" Bret asked as he studied the unsatisfied look on Johan's face.

"Yeah, sure… I bet Risa would enjoy seeing you again, too," Johan replied with a forced smile that brought pain to his cheeks.

Bret missed seeing Johan's sweet true smile. He had not seen it since the day the teal haired boy left for his date. The only smiles he ever gets from Johan now were forced and fake. "Hey, why don't you go take that shower," Bret said, not wanting to see the pained smile on the teal haired boy's face.

"Yeah, okay," Johan said as the smile on soft lips fell to a grimace. He then gathered the rest of his showing stuff and went into the bathroom. He locked the door behind himself and turned on the shower. He slowly stripped off his cloths. As he undressed he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Johan had always thought he was a good looking person but today his reflection was the most unattractive thing he had ever seen in his life. His hair was a mess, his eyes and nose were both swollen and red, and he looked even paler than he remembered. The dull green eyes of his reflection stared back at him, almost as if to tell him there was no hope. 'I don't blame him for not…' Johan started to think but shook the thought from his clouded mind. He was not going to let his broken heart get the best of him today, he was better than that. With a shake of his head, he quickly ripped his eyes from the mirror, not daring to look back at his ghostly reflection.

Without another thought, Johan pulled back the curtain to the shower and hopped in. The water was cooler than he normally liked it but his mind was too scattered to care. He poured a pool of shampoo into the palm of his hand as he desperately tried to keep his mind off of Judai.

XXX

Bret stared longingly as he watched Johan enter the bathroom. All he really wanted was to see Johan happy again. Why can't Johan see that Judai is the fool and he is too good for that brown eyed twat. Bret turned back to his computer and stewed over his childish jealousy, his crossed arms exaggerated how childish he was being. "One day he'll see how heartless that brown haired twat really is," Bret said as jealousy seethed from his very being.

As the purple haired boy sat in his self-made pool a jealousy, a loud knock came from the door. The knock was so loud and sudden, that it almost caused Bret to fall out of his seat. "Now, who could that be…?" Bret thought aloud as he gathered himself. 'It's probably Liz or something, wanting to check up on Johan,' he thought as he tried to hide his jealousy the best he could.

Bret put on his best swag face as he sauntered over to the door and swung it open. "Why hello there dear-" but Bret was cut off from finishing his sentence when his sharp yellow eyes met with Judai's soft brown eyes. Judai sat in the doorway holding a box of chocolates in one hand and a big red rose in the other. Both boys stared at each other in shock for a split second before their looks changed to utter hatred. "Why, hello there, heartbreaker... Come back to break Johan's sweet little heart even more?" Bret greeted with malice in his usually carefree voice.

Judai could not help but feel a sting in his heart as he heard Bret's words. Anytime he thought of how hurt Johan must feel, brought a painful discomfort to Judai's being. "I… I came to talk with Johan… is he here?" Judai asked in as cool of a voice as he could, though there was a bit of malice mixed in.

"Oh, well, he may be here…or might be off at class…" Bret said, making sure to block Judai's view of the dorm room.

"Listen! I am not in the mood to play some stupid game," Judai hissed in a low dangerous voice. "Is he, or is he not here!?" he asked again, as he tried to look around Bret into the room. He was almost certain that he hear a shower running... and was that crying?

Bret tried as best he could to block the brown eyes duelists' vision. "Why does it matter? Maybe he doesn't want to see your sorry face… After the way you tossed him aside like trash," Bret hissed as he shot daggers at Judai. "Besides, he doesn't need someone like YOU, who is just along for the ride, when he's got someone like ME to care for him properly," Bret spat as a cocky smirk spread across his tanned face.

Judai's eyes flashed gold as his hands tighten dangerously around the box of chocolates and the rose, causing them both to bend a bit. Judai badly wanted to drive his fist into Bret's cocky face. He had always hated the boy and now he knew way. Bret was the worst threat Judai had ever encountered. Judai had never had to compete with someone for the affection of another because he had never felt for someone that way he did for Johan. Why did his love rival have to share a room with the one they both loved? Trying his best to control his boiling rage, Judai took a deep and shaky breath. "Listen, I don't want to fight with you! Just let me talk to Johan!" Judai demanded in a controlled yet shaky voice.

"Why should I? Someone as dumb and heartless as you does not deserve Johan!" Bret spat. "Now you better move along and find some other heart to break," Bret said in a taunting voice as he made to close the door.

Judai shot his foot in the doorway in an attempt to stop it from closing. "I'm not done yet! LET ME SEE JOHAN!" Judai bellowed as he dropped the rose and used his now free hand to try and push the door open.

"What do you think you are doing you freak!" Bret snapped as he tried to push the door closed. "This is breaking and entering! If you don't get lost NOW, I will call the cops," Bret threatened as he pushed at the door.

Judai resisted for a second more before giving up. He knew he could not trust Bret's word. He had a feeling Johan was probably in the shower. "Fine! Then I will just wait out here for him to come back!" Judai said as he gave the door one last frustrated shove.

Bret peaked at Judai from the door. "You better get lost, NOW, before I call the cops! This could be considered harassment!" Bret threatened as he shot daggers at Judai.

Judai sat in silence, his head hanging down as he studied the floor. Saying here and arguing with Bret would surely not impress Johan. "Fine… But I will be back. I don't care what you think or say! Johan does not belong to you! I will get him back," Judai declared as his brown eyes challenged Bret.

Bret could not help but feel uneasy. All Judai did was look him in the eye and he felt overwhelmed by power. He wondered if he bit off more than he could chew. Bret sat in uneasy silence as he returned Judai's look with a wavering glare. "Whatever dude, just get lost," he finally said as he went to shut the door but was stopped yet again by Judai.

"One last thing…" Judai said in an uncharacteristically deep threatening voice.

Bret felt his heart quake in a fit of fear at the voice coming from Judai's throat. He didn't know what or why, but something about Judai's demander changed. "What…?" Bret replied the best he could to not sound too intimidated.

"If you do anything, ANYTHING, to Johan… you will regret it," Judai hissed in the deep threatening voice, his eyes flashing gold yet again.

"I'm not the one who hurt him," Bret whispered, almost regretting it immediately.

Judai's eyes flashed gold one last time as he heard Bret's truthful words; a sharp pain pulsed in his chest. Looking away from Bret he released the door and turned. "Also…." He said before he took a step forward, this time his voice was less threatening but none the less intimidating. "Did he get the cake?" Judai asked, not bothering to look at Bret.

Bret sat in utter silence as he registered what was happening. Why did he feel so threatened by this boy? Bret fought to find his voice as he studied the terrifying figure in the hall that was Judai. He was not sure, but he was almost certain that a dark threatening aura surrounded the duelist. After a few moments of thick silence, Bret finally found his voice. "What cake…?" he answered, feeling a strange sense of fear run down his spine.

Judai nodded his head, not bothering to reply. He had a feeling that would be the answer. He took a deep breath and, with not so much as a peep, he made his way down the hall and back to his dorm. He was not going to bother with Bret. He could tell that Bret was just trying to discourage him. Judai was not going to give up on Johan. He would keep trying and trying, even if it killed him.

XXX

Johan's shower lasted for about thirty minutes. During the shower he had only cried a bit, but it was much less than the last time he had showered. What had caused him to cut his crying short was alarming shouts he heard from his dorm room. Johan had just assumed that Bret was playing video games or maybe talking with Liz but if he could hear Bret shouting, then Bret could probably hear his crying. Johan was not a big fan of crying in front of others. It made him feel shameful and embarrassed, so once he realized this, he had done his best to cut the cry session short during his shower.

Once dressed, Johan exited the bathroom feeling a little more refreshed. He was met by an awkwardly shaken Bret. 'What's wrong with him?' Johan thought, as he studies his roommate. "Hey… um… you okay?" Johan asked as he examined his roommate's strange behavior.

Bret was jerked back to reality by Johan's voice. He did not want to admit it, but he was feeling a bit shaken from his scuffle with Judai. Judai had not laid a hand on him but when Judai had told him to back off Johan, he could not help but feel like his life was at stake. He always thought Judai was such a pushover but now he was not so sure. "Y-Yeah! I-I'm just fine…!" Bret said, trying his best to sound his normal self.

Johan lifted an eyebrow as he studied his roommate more. "I heard some shouting while I was in the shower… Did someone come over or something?"

"Oh Yeah… that," Bret said trying to sound cool and collected. "It was no one important… Just some neighbor from down the hall wishing us luck on our next water polo game," he quickly lied.

"Oh… I see…" Johan hummed as he cocked his head to the side. He found it strange because their next game is not for another month or so. He decided not to dwell on it. With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Johan turned and made his way to his bed. "Hey, I am going to run to the library for a bit before my next class," Johan explained as he packed a bag that was on his bed.

"Oh, um yeah, have a nice time," Bret awkwardly replied; still not fully over his scare from Judai.

Once all his books and items were packed, Johan bid his oddly acting roommate a goodbye. "See you at practice," Johan said as he shut his dorm room door behind himself. He turned to make his way down the wall when something red on the floor caught his eye. He looked closer at it to find that it was a slightly ruffled red rose. Johan bent down and picked up the beautiful red rose. The poor flower looked as if it had been partially smashed at some point in the last hour; its stem was bent at an awkward angle. As Johan studied the flower in his hand he noticed that all the thorns on it's stem seemed to have been plucked off so that it was easy to hold. He smiled as he studied the rose, a warm feeling spread from his heart as he did so. He could not help but wonder where the rose had come from. 'Maybe it was left behind by that water polo fan,' Johan thought as he studied the delicate red peddles of the flower. Its deep red peddles reminded Johan of Judai. A sad warmness pumped thought Johan's veins as he thought of receiving a rose like this from his crush. Johan could not help but chuckle a little at the idea of Judai presenting a rose to anyone, it was far too sappy and cliché. Still studying the delicate flower, Johan slowly made his way down the hall and to the library as thoughts of Judai ran through his mind.

(( So… How was chapter 12? Did you enjoy it? I hope so. This chapter was pretty much dedicated to Judai's failed attempts to see Johan. Were they too OOC? I thought Judai was pretty cool at the end but that's just me. I always imagined that Yubel's overprotective nature might have rubbed off on Judai a bit but that's just me.

Anyways, let me know what you think of Chapter 12. I really do love reading all the feedback you guys give and I sometimes get ideas to better the future chapters from them. You all inspire me w!

The next chapter is dedicated to Judai's ultimate 'win over Johan's heart for good' plan. I wonder what it could be? Will Judai be able to win over Johan or will he fail yet again? I hope to start writing it tomorrow. Chapter 13 should be out in about a week or two.

Also Ch 13 may be the last D: But I don't know yet. There may be a 14th chapter depending on how Ch13 turns out.

So, this chapter took so long to get out because I was off in Tokyo. I went to Comiket and made a Judai cosplay for myself and a Yusei cosplay for my friend. I have pics of them up on my Tumblr (Pastaprincess) if you want to take a look. I think they came out pretty good. It was hot as fuck at Comiket this year, so sorry if we look like we are melting in the photos. We were melting now that I think about it.

(While I was reading through this chapter looking for mistakes I read this part and thought that if I changed it just a bit, it would be even funnier) _He then placed the note on top of the cake. He let loose a big fart as he studied the cake on the floor._ (Sorry, I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy!)

Remember guys, I will be publishing a new story once this one if over! I don't want to start it and get distracted from this one. It will revolve around Haou's and Yubel's past. I have a few tentative chapters done already so that I can slowly up load them once Uncharted Islands is over. I hope you all take the time to read it as well!

Anyways, sorry for all the updates and stuff. Is it even normal to put so much in your author notes? I just don't know the proper etiquette for fan fic writing. Well, you all take care and see you soon! ))

((JaydenNg2- I am so happy that you enjoy this story to much! I really can't wait to see the fan art! I am so excited w. I will just have to be patient and wait! (I suck at being patient XD)))


	14. Chapter 13

((Hello, everyone! Here is Chapter 13 of Uncharted Islands! Is this the end? Does Judai finally confess to Johan? Will Johan except? You will just have to read and find out.

I don't own Yugioh GX or any of its characters.

There may be a bit of OOC in this chapter as well, maybe… I don't know. I will let you decide))

Chapter 13

Judai gazed up at the ceiling of his room as he tried to calm himself. He had just returned from his third failed attempted at trying to woo Johan. He had been trying since Sunday to meet with Johan and try to confess his feelings before it was too late. His first attempt took place on Sunday and had ended in failure. The next day he had decided to make a cake for the boy he loved. When he went to drop the cake off there was no one at home and Judai was meant with disappointment again. He had left the cake at the door step in hopes that Johan would find it and seek Judai out. Yubel had talked Judai into waiting a few days before going to see Johan again. She had said to give Johan a bit more time before assuming Johan did not find the cake, or simply did not want to meet with Judai. Judai never received any sort of call from Johan, so on Thursday, today, Judai had tried a third time to win Johan's heart.

Judai had bought Johan some chocolates and a rose as his third attempt. It may have been a bit sappy and not really his style but he was starting to feel desperate. He had not seen the teal haired boy in over a week and was starting to worry that Johan didn't even want to see him. When Judai had knocked on Johan's door, he was met by the last person he wanted to see, Bret. Judai had a feeling that Bret had been the reason Johan never received the cake. Judai had almost lost his cool at the sight of the cocky purple haired boy. Bret and Judai had argued at the door as Judai demanded to see Johan. Judai had a sinking feeling that Johan had been in the shower and that Bret was trying to keep them apart. Judai had badly wanted to punch Bret straight in the face but knew that would only cause more problems than it was worth. By the end of it Judai had decided to come again another day. He had been royally pissed off at Bret and knew that if he tried to confess at that time, he would mess it up. In the end, Judai once again left Johan's dorm empty handed, and this time pissed off.

At the moment Judai was lying on his bed, alone in his room, attempting to cool his temper down. He was still mad at Bret for keeping him from his Johan. 'Who does that jerk think he is!? Does he really think he can get between Johan and I?' Judai thought as he clenched some of his bedding in his fists. 'If he every tries anything like that again…' Judai thought as he shot a nasty look at the ceiling. Judai then took a deep breath in an attempt to relax himself. He knew that even if Bret kept them apart, as long as Johan was okay, Judai would never be able to bring himself to hurt the purple haired boy.

Judai rolled onto his side as his mind drifted from anger to a strange mix of sorrow and worry. 'Had Bret been telling the truth? Is Johan avoiding me? Did Johan find the cake and decided to ignore my message,' Judai thought as a strange lump began to grow in his throat. "No No NO! Johan would never do that! He would never ignore me if he knew I was reaching out to him! If he had found the cake then he would have surely…" Judai said aloud as he shot up in bed and tried to keep his thinking positive. Judai didn't know if Bret had been the one to keep the cake from Johan but he did know that Bret had kept them apart today. Judai had a feeling that Bret would keep up this act until Judai ether gave up on Johan, or until Johan's feelings for Judai disappeared. Judai used Bret's behavior today as a way to prove that Johan still had feelings for him. If Johan was over Judai, then Bret would have no reason to keep them apart. Judai was starting to feel better already. Though Judai knew Bret was keeping them apart, he felt that Bret was doing it because Johan was still not over him. There was still time!

Judai's brow furrowed a bit as he tried to think of his next game plan. He had tried cake, and flowers and chocolate thus far and was at a loss of what to do next. Judai let out a big sigh as he looked around his room. As his eyes studied around the room for ideas, his attention was grabbed by the keychain he had received from Johan for Christmas. It sat on the side table by his bed. It was one of his most treasured items. He reached out and picked up the wooden figure by its chain and held it up. "No wonder he acted so strange back then…" Judai whispered with a smile as he studied the detail of the figure. It was evident that Johan had put much time and love into making the figure as accurate as possible. Judai's eyes saddened as he recalled Johan's confession. 'Had Johan really been in love with me since summer,' Judai thought as he let out another sigh. He could not help but feel saddened by the thought that Johan had kept these feeling hidden for so long. 'It must have been so terrifying for him and I just…' Judai thought as a dull pain grew in his heart. 'What am I going to do…?' Judai thought as his mind started to go blank.

"Maybe you should talk to someone, Judai. I am sure your friends are going to notice something is up," Yubel said in a monotone voice as she appeared next to Judai.

Judai jumped at the sound of Yubel's voice "Huh!? What?" Judai said as he returned to reality.

"I said you should talk with your friends Judai," Yubel replied as she looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to not make eye contact with Judai. "They will notice something is wrong and worry," Yuble said as she quickly glanced over at Judai.

"I know but… I just… It's not their problem… and…" Judai said as he tried to talk himself out of consulting his friends. He never minded it when his friend looked to him for encouragement but he could not help but feel like a bother when he got his friends mixed up in his problems.

"Judai! They are your friends, as well as Johan's, and they will be more than willing to help you both out! They care for you…" Yubel said, finally making proper eye contact with Judai. She knew that there was not much she could do to help Judai out as is. She also knew that Judai was at a loss and a push form those close to him could really do the boy some good. Judai just looked to Yubel without saying a word, her words sinking into his mind. "If you ask me, I think you should let someone know… someone who you trust and always give sound advice…" Yuble said after a few moments of silence. Without waiting for a reply from Judai, she disappeared.

Judai sat alone once again with his thoughts. 'Maybe Yubel is right! Maybe I should get some advice… but who should I talk to?' Judai thought as he looked around his room yet again. He knew he was not going to ask Fubuki. He had seen what Fubuki's advice could lead to. Judai was a naïve person when it came to love but he knew better then to ask his overzealous friend for help in a situation this delicate. Judai then thought about Jim. Jim was the most mature out of Judai's male friends. Jim always seemed to keep a level head and would often think things through before doing them, but how much did Jim know about love? Judai had never seen Jim deal with love before. For all Judai knew, Jim was just as naive when it came to love as he was. Judai sat and thought hard. This matter was something very important to Judai, maybe the most important thing in his life at the moment and he needed to make sure he picked the right person. "If I can't turn to Jim or Fubuki… then who…?" Judai thought aloud as he scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling.

All of a sudden it hit him! Why didn't he think of it before! With much haste Judai shot out of his bed and dug his phone from his backpack. He juggled it in his hands a bit as he pulled it out. His hands shook as he turned his phone on. He pushed a few buttons and rolled through his small phonebook as he tried to find the person he was looking for. A big smile graced his face when he found the name His hands shaking with excitement, he pushed the call button and held the phone to his ear. He waited impatiently as the phone began to ring.

"Hello?" came the, oh so familiar, voice of his friend Asuka.

"Asuka? Is that you?" Judai asked stupidly, knowing very well who the stern girly voice belonged to.

"J-Judai?" Asuka questioned, feeling quite shocked to be getting a call from the brown haired duelist. He never called her unless… "Judai… why are you calling me… Is something wrong?"

"What? How… How did you know I had a problem?" Judai asked, wondering if Asuka had the power to read minds.

Askua rolled her eyes as she listened to Judai's shaky voice. She had rarely ever heard Judai's voice this shaky. "Well, you rarely ever call me just to talk… you often only call me when something is wrong and you need help," she said after a few moments of silence. She could not help but feel a bit flattered knowing that Judai confided in her opinion.

"Oh… yeah… um… sorry about that…" Judai replied, feeling a bit guilty for never taking time to just sit a chat with the girl.

Asuka could not help but smiled as she heard Judai's apology. She didn't really mind. She knew that Judai was not the chatty type. "So… Spill it! What happened?" she said with a big sigh as she readied herself to listen to her friend's problem.

Judai sat in silence as he tried to think of a way to explain the situation to Asuka. He sort of wished that he had thought it out before calling her. "Well… you see… the thing is… I think I really blew it…" Judai finally said in a low sad voice.

Asuka's titled her head to the side as she heard the sad tone in the duelist's voice. She had never heard Judai speak with such utter sorrow before. It sounded almost as if his heart was breaking. "What happened…?" Asuka replied after a few seconds of nothing being said by ether party.

"It…." Judai said as he swallowed a hug lump in his throat. Thinking about his problems was one thing, but talking about them and admitting that they were real was a whole new ball park; a very painful one. "You see…. It has to do…. with…. Johan," Judai's voice cracked a bit when he said the name of his love.

Asuka's eyes widened at the name of the teal haired duelist. She had noticed a few months ago that Johan had been acting strange around Judai, almost as if he were in love with the brown haired duelist. At the time she felt that it was none of her business and had an inkling that Judai's feelings were not too far off from Johan's. 'What could have happened between them…' she thought as she tried to find the right words to reply to Judai. With a deep sigh she finally spoke "What happened between you two?… Tell me everything."

Judai could not help but wince at Asuka's words. The idea of telling Asuka everything created a sickening sensation that started from his stomach and spread to the rest of his body. He did not want to admit to others that he had hurt Johan so bad. Despite the pain it would bring to verbally admit to another what had happened, Judai knew he had to tell Asuka the truth if he expected to receive useful help from the girl. "Well, you see… It happened about a week ago… Johan and I both went to an aquarium together…" Judai started to explain, deciding that it was best to start from the beginning.

Asuka nodded her head and 'Umhum' every now and then to show that she was listening to Judai. Never in all her years did she think Judai would fall this hard for anyone.

XXX

Johan packed a small bag as he readied himself to head out to Risa's café. It was early Saturday morning and he had made plans with Bret to spend the day at the dueling café. Johan had skipped out on duel class the other day, still not ready to face Judai. After water polo practice he has messaged in sick, and stayed locked in his room all day long. He had validated his behavior by saying he needed to catch up on studies in other classes, granted he did get a lot of work done, he still felt like a cowered for hiding from Judai. The idea of seeing the boy and having to accept his rejection in front of the whole class sent a jolt of discomfort through Johan. He just wasn't ready for it. What pained Johan even more was knowing that Judai hadn't even tried to contact him all week. 'Maybe I really did scare him away,' Johan thought as the dull pain in his heart began to resurface yet again. His eyes then caught the small silver Ruby keychain that hung form his bag. He had put it there a few days ago. Despite his rejection, Johan could not let go of the present from his crush. There was something about it that reminded him of how close he and Judai had been and, hopefully, still are.

"Are you ready to go yet, Doll Face?" Bret asked as he looked over his shoulder at his melancholy roommate. He noticed the awkwardly pained look on Johan's face knowing that Johan was probably thinking of Judai yet again. He waited for a second but didn't receive a reply from the teal haired boy. With a sigh he stood up and walked over to his spaced-out roommate. "Hey! Anyone in there," Bret sang as he taped the side of Johan's head.

Johan's eyes widened as he shot back to reality! "Huh?! Did you say something," he sutured as he tried to recall what Bret had said to him.

"Yeah Doll Face! I asked if you were ready to leave!" Bret replied as he poked Johan's nose playfully. This won him a small smile form the teal haired boy.

Though Johan still felt broken, he had been able to smile a bit more recently. He felt so grateful to have such a caring roommate who looked out for him. If it were not for Bret, he probably would have stayed locked up in his dorm room all week, never even leaving for class. Thought Johan also had Liz to thank as well. She had gone out of her way to try and keep the atmosphere cheerful when around Johan. Johan has been grateful that Bret had offered to go with him to the duel café, it would be a good distraction to have someone else there. Bret had even offered to bring his deck to duel with. "Sorry, I guess I just spaced out a bit," Johan replied as a small smile graced his soft lips. "I'm ready to go."

Thought it was small and wavered a bit, Bret savored the sweet smile on Johan's lips with a loving gaze. The two boys sat in silence as Bret studied Johan. Their eyes met for a split second causing a small awkward atmosphere to settle between the two before they both looked away from each other. "Then…um… let's get going, Doll Face" Bret sang in an attempt to lift the awkwardness. He then sauntered over to his back pack and tossed it onto his back.

"Oh… um… right," Johan replied as he tried to place the look he had seen on Bret's face. 'Hadn't Bret made that exact same face during the New Year's countdown…?' Johan thought as he swung his back pack onto his back. He shrugged off the though as he followed his roommate out the door.

The two idly chatted about classes and water polo as they made their way, in Bret's car, to the café. The drive only took about 10minutes. Once at the café the two ordered their meals.

"I see you have added quite a few new items to your menu!" Bret commented as he looked over the menu.

"Ah yes! I suppose you could say I was inspired by… two young and amazing duelists," Risa replied shooting a sly but kind smile in Johan's direction. Johan looked up to Risa and smiled awkwardly before looking back down at the menu. Risa was quite surprised by the boy's reaction. She had expected a bit more enthusiasm. "Well then… What can I get you two?" she asked with a big sigh as she shot a worried look in Johan's direction.

"I will take, the Watapon Smoothie and… the Blue Eyes White Cheese Burger," Bret said with a wink as Risa took his orders. All of the menus items were named after duel monsters. Bret had always found this to be quite amusing.

"Okay, so that is one Watapon and one Blue Eyes," Risa repeated as she wrote the order down. "And how about you Johan?" Risa asked with a kind smile.

Johan could not help but smiled back at Risa. Something about her calming presents lifted some of his worries. "Umm… I will take the Very Berry Neos Smoothie and… the Hane-Kuriboh Chicken Sandwich," Johan replied, not realizing that he had ordered two items that were named after some of the duel spirits Judai was closest to.

Risa wrote down Johan's order before looking back up at the young duelist. She could tell something was terribly wrong with the boy. Johan always seemed to shine like a bright gem wherever he went but now he seemed like a tarnished piece of silver. The boy's hair was a mess, his nose had a pinkness to it, like it had been rubbed one too many times and he seemed to slouch. His eyes had also lost their enchanting shine. "Johan, are you feeling sick? You don't look so well…" Risa asked as she handed the boy his order number to put on his table.

"What… oh…Um… I'm fine," Johan said as a fake smile spread across his pale face. "I was just… up late… studying," he lied, not wanting to worry the kind duelist. 'Do I really look that bad…?' Johan thought as he took the number from Risa.

Risa, not convinced that everything was fine, looked from Johan to Bret. Bret motioned for her to drop the subject. Risa got the hint and nodded her head. "Well, make sure you get lots of rest tonight. I don't want to see one of the top duelists in the area get sick simply because of bad sleeping habits," she replied with a calming sweet smile. Risa was old, and wise, enough to know when not to pry. Thought she wanted to know what the real problem was, she decided to instead try to cheer the boy up. "Now, why don't you two find a seat and relax while I get your orders ready," she said as she motioned to the half full café.

The two boys thanked Risa and made their way to a table. Johan had found a nice two person table that was hidden in the back corner of the café. Realizing that he probably looked reached, he wanted to hide himself from the rest of the diners. Johan took the seat that faced the front door while Bret took the other seat that faced the wall. The two sat in awkward silence as they tried to find an interesting subject to talk about.

Bret could tell that Johan was nowhere near being out of his dejected slump. It bothered him to see the boy so hung up over that brown haired duelist. 'I still don't see what is sooo enchanting about him. He seems like a jerk, who acts all funny and nice but when he does not get away, he becomes a monster… Johan does not deserve that,' Bret thought as he recalled the scuffle he had with Judai on Thursday. He still did not admit that he had been shaken by Judai. He looked across the table at Johan whom looked like he was trying to fight back tears. "You know, Doll Face, you should just forget about him! He is just a selfish jerk… I mean, come on, it's not like he has even tried to contact you since he rejected you, right," Bret said after a few moments of silence. He felt that someone had to tell Johan the 'truth'! That Judai had rejected him and he needed to move on.

Johan looked up from the fork he had been fiddling with and shot a confused look at Bret. "What? Who are you talking…" Johan began to ask but then realized who 'he was'. Johan's heart beat painfully in his chest as he took in what Bret had said. Johan had also noticed that Judai had not bothered to contact him since last weekend. "I… He…is…" Johan stumbled over his words as he tried to control his emotions. It hurt to know that Judai would avoid him like this. "He is probably… just busy…or his phone broke… or…. He doesn't want to…." Johan realized that tears were beginning to gather at the sides of his eyes.

Bret felt a mix of guilt and annoyance at the way Johan had reacted to his statement. Why was Johan still so willing to make up excuses for the stupid brown haired duelist? "Johan, isn't it obvious that he is not interested. Only a shallow person would leave you high and dry like this. I don't see why you bother crying over someone so uncaring!" Bret said in an annoyed tone. He felt bad for the way he was hurting Johan but knew Johan would never get over Judai without a push.

Bret's words hurt Johan more than he was willing to admit. Johan had been telling himself this whole time that Judai had NOT abandoned him. Judai would never do that. Johan and he were too close to fall apart like this, or that's what Johan hoped. For some reason, the way Bret talked about Judai pissed Johan off. Johan knew deep down that Judai was caring and would never hurt his friends on purpose, not unless it was to protect them. "He… probably… just," Johan stuttered as he tried to find reasons as to why Judai would avoid him for a week, but failed to find any.

"See! He is just a waste of your time and tears!" Bret carried on, neglecting to notice the slight hint of annoyance in Johan's posture. "Judai is an annoying, shallow, selfish, uncaring person who-" but Bret was cut off before he could finish.

"JUDAI IS NOT A WASTE OF MY TIME!" Johan shouted as he slammed his hands down onto the table and blinked away his tears. This caused many people sitting around them to jump and shoot concerned glances at the two. It infuriated Johan to no end to hear someone talk about his Judai in such a negative fashion. "Judai has done nothing wrong!" Johan spat as he shot a threatening glare at Bret. "It's not his fault for not liking me, so STOP, accusing him of being selfish, uncaring and shallow!" Johan's eyes were watery but stern as he stared down Bret.

Bret was speechless. He did not expect Johan to react in such a way. He had expected the boy to melt in self-pity at hearing the 'truth' about Judai. Had he gone too far with his lies? Bret knew that Judai had tried at least twice this week to contact Johan and he, Bret, had intervened both. For all he knew, Judai could have come more than just twice this week. He felt sick shame and guilt over take his being for the way he had been acting and for the lies he had been telling Johan. "I…I'm sorry," Bret finally said after a minuet of neither of them talking.

Johan sighed as he regained his composure. "Listen… I know you are just trying to make me feel better but… please don't talk about Judai that way… He really is… a good person… no…. the best person, with a warm heart and always looking out for others wellbeing," as Johan spoke a sad but loving smile graced his soft lips. "It's… It's more like… I'm the wait of ti-" but Johan was unable to finish his sentence as a smoothie and sandwich was placed in front of him.

"Hope you two were not waiting too long," Risa said with a cheerful smile as she placed the food and drinks on the table. "I also have a surprise for you two…" Risa added with a sly grin.

"A surprise?" Johan questioned as he took a sip of his blue Very Berry Neos smoothie, it tasted mainly of blueberries.

"Yes, it's a new item on the list. It's another dessert item, inspired by Judai's deck. I was hoping that you two could give it a try for me before I put it on display," Risa explained with a smile as she looked at the two boys. "It's free of charge," she then added.

Johan's heart gave a funny thump at the sound of Judai's name. "Um… Yeah… I would love to try it," Johan said with an awkward smile. Risa still had no clue what had happened between Johan and Judai.

"Yeah, free food is always good I guess," Bret said, a little ticked off that the dessert was names after a monster from Judai's deck.

"Great! You two can start on your lunch and I will bring it right over," Risa sang as she walked back to the kitchen.

The two boys dug into their meals as they waited for Resa to return. Johan had to admit that the flavor of the Neos smoothie and Hane-Kuriboh sandwich reminded him of Judai.. 'I mean his duel monsters… not Judai… the duel monsters,' Johan thought as a soft blush graced his cheeks. At first they ate in an awkward silence but after a while the two boys started to talk about life in general. While Johan was in the middle of discussing what he had learned about the Giant Kelp forests, Risa had returned with the dessert.

"Now, Judai has never actually played this card against me but he has mentioned it to me many times," Risa stated as she placed a decedent slice of chocolate cake in front of them both. It had chocolate mousse in the middle and dark chocolate black berry ganache on top. It was also decorated with fresh black berries. "I call it, Yubel's Deciant Chocolate Cake," Risa sang as she looked to the boys with expecting eyes.

Johan could not help but truly smile as he heard the name. The cake truly did seem to fit Yubel well, just looking at it made him think of the winged duel monster. "Judai is going to love this when he sees it," Johan said as a true joy filled smile spread across his soft face, forgetting his sorrows for a second.

"What? Do you really think so? Great!" Risa sang as she clapped her hands together. "Well, you two enjoy the free desert and let me know what you think," and with that Risa headed back to the counter.

The two boys sat in silence as they ate their cakes. Johan found the cake to be very fitting for Yubel. The dark chocolate of the cake was very bitter and rich, while the black berried added a tart sweetness that complemented the chocolate well. For a second, Johan imagined sharing a slice of this cake with Judai. His became flustered at the thought but soon his mood sank as he came back to reality. 'What if he really is trying to ignore and avoid me…?' Johan thought as he took a sip of his Very Berry Neos smoothie.

Bret saw the sad look on Johan's soft ivory face. "Um, so, you never finished telling me about that Giant Kelp… I was really interested ya know," Bret said sarcastically in an attempt to distract Johan from whatever was making him sad.

Johan smiled at his roommate knowing very well what he was trying to do. The two chatted as they munched on their cakes. After a while they were only left with their smoothies to sip on. Johan half listened as Bret told him a story about his latest attempts at flirting with the girl at the fast food restaurant on campus. While listening, Johan's eyes scanned around the room arbitrarily looking at people, and that's when it happened. A messy poof of two toned brown hair came in through the front door. Johan felt his heart stop when he saw his heartbreak enter the building. Judai shined as he stood in the doorway and looked around the now full café. Despite the god like glow that shown from Judai, Johan could not help but notice something was off about his crush, like he had not been sleeping well. A ting of worry for the boy passed through Johan's heart as he leaned down against the table in an attempt to hid himself. His heart beat like crazily against his chest as he realized he was not yet ready to see Judai.

"Um… you feeling okay man?" Bret asked as he watched his roommate sink down in his chair.

Johan slumped all the way down out of his chair and onto the floor as he yanked his wallet from his bag and placed a wad of money on the table. "Bret! I think we should leave," Johan replied in a shaky voice, his eyes never leaving Judai. It seemed that Judai had yet to notice the two.

"What? But I still have half my smoothie…" Bret complained.

Without answering Bret, Johan grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him down under the table as well. "I said we are leaving!" Johan spat in no joke voice. "I put enough money on the table for us both so let's go!" as Johan spoke his yes kept shooting to where Judai was. Judai was next in line to order. Johan neglected to notice that Asuka, Jim and Fubuki were all with him. "We are going to crawl out the back door! No complaints," Johan explained as he made sure Judai was still distracted.

Bret stared at Johan as if he were insane but went along with it anyways. "Whatever you say Doll Face, you just owe me a smoothie the next time we come here," Bret said with a sigh as he gathered his stuff.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Johan said as he too picked up his back pack. As Johan started to crawl out from under the table, his back pack did not seem to want to come with him. Something on it was caught on the chair. Johan looked up to where Judai was and saw that Risa was pointing in his direction "Crap!" Johan hissed in a quiet voice as he gave his bag one great tug, breaking it free from its hold. He did not seem to notice that his Ruby keychain had been what was stuck and had broken off his bag. In one great leap Johan pushed Bret and they both hid behind a table that was two down from theirs. Johan looked up to see that Risa was pointing and looking at the table that he had just been at not two seconds ago, her face painted with confusion. Johan also noticed Judai shoot an excited look at his table, only to see Judai's face fall from joy to disappointment. Johan could not help but wonder why Judai had been so happy.

"Excuse me, but do you mind," came a very disgruntled voice in Johan's ear.

Johan looked up to see an angry man and a bewildered lady sitting at the table they were hiding behind. "Oh Um… Sorry… I huh… dropped something… Sorry," Johan said awkwardly as he crawled away from the man. He then turned and motioned for Bret to follow him to the back entrance that led out to the beach. He glanced over to see Judai looking around the cafe with a… panicked look on his face. Why did Judai look so panicked? Johan then noticed Risa giving Judai a number and point him to a table that was in their direction. 'Crap, crap ,craaap' Johan's mind sang as he madly crawled to the back door, both he and Bret winning confused expressions from the people they passed. Once they were only a meter from the door Johan stood up and dashed out. As she dashed out of the café Johan swore he heard an angelic voice call his name but he didn't look back.

XXX

"So that's why Johan skipped out no class yesterday, because you dumped him and broke his tender little heart," Fubuki sang as he rubbed his chin and thought. Much to Judai's dismay, Asuka had insisted that Judai tell Fubuki and Jim about his love problems as well. She had argued that four heads were better than one and that, being both Judai and Johan's good friends, they would most likely be good help in getting Johan to give Judai the time of day, if need be it. In the end Judai had agreed to tell the two; he had a sinking feeling that they would figure it out in the end anyways.

"Why didn't you come to us sooner, mate?" Jim asked as the group exited his car and made their way to the duel café.

"Well I…" Judai said as he tried to find a good excuse as to why he had kept it secret from the two. It's not that he didn't trust them, he just could not think straight when it came to Johan.

"Ah, its okay! We understand!" Fubuki sang, slapping Judai hard on the back. "Sometimes we do crazy things when we are in love," he then hummed as he clapped his hands together and leaned on Judai.

Judai shot an annoyed look at the over passionate duelist, not wanting to be touched at the moment. Fubuki shot overly dramatic puppy dog eyes at Judai as he leaned on Judai's shoulder. Unable to truly be annoyed with Fubuki, Judai let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. "Yeah… I guess I am crazy… so crazy that I…" Judai spoke in a shaky voice as he put a hand to his heart. Anytime he thought of Johan, a dull pain would settle in his chest, making it hard for him to do anything. Every last fiber in his body yarned to see Johan, even just a glimpse would do.

His three friends all shot worried looks at the love sick boy as they arrived at the café.

"Judai, it's all going to be okay… the plan will work… It just has too," Asuka said as she placed a comforting hand on Judai's slumped shoulder.

The kind touch shook Judai from his Johan filled thoughts. "Yeah…Thanks… for helping me," Judai replied with a grateful smile as he looked around at his dear friends. It was true, they did indeed have a plan to help Judai win Johan over, Judai was just worried about whether it was going to work or not.

"Don't mention it mate," Jim said as he too gave Judai's shoulder an encouraging pat.

"Yes, I would do anything for love," Fubuki sang as he took Judai hand and gave it a pat.

The four friends sat in silence outside of the café. The whole situation seemed too cheese and scripted causing a funny awkwardness to befall them. As if on que, all four burst into laughter, causing the awkward feeling to lift almost immediately. Judai looked around at the group as he too laughed along. He was thankful for the comfort true friends could bring when you are feeling at your lowest. "Thanks guys! I don't know what I would do without you…" Judai said as a grateful smile awkwardly spread across his face. It had been a while since his last true smile.

The three all smiled back at Judai, not feeling any need to say more. "Well then, how about we order some food and discuss out plan of attack," Fubiki said as he opened the door to the café for the others to enter.

Judai was the first to enter the building. The first think he noticed was how packed the restaurant was at the moment. The other times had been to the café, on none duel even days, it had only been half full. Judai's eyes scanned the full café wondering if there were any empty seats left. "It looks full," Judai commented as his three friends entered the building behind him.

"I have never seen it this packed, I wonder if we will be able to get a seat," Jim said as he too took in the numerous amounts of people in the cafe.

"Well, let's get in line and put our order in before it gets even more crowded," Asuka said as she studied the short line in front of the order counter. There were about three people ahead of Judai.

"Oh my! It looks like they got a new menu," Fubuki pointed out as he read through the menu that hung over the counter. The group all studies the menu as they made their way to the front of the line.

"Oh Judai! Jim! Fubuki! How are you two doing?" Risa greeted when the group arrived at the front of the line.

"Oh, Hello Risa," Judai greeted with a weak smile as he thought about what he wanted to order.

"Hello there! It's been a while, right?" Jim said with a tip of his hat. Karen hissed a hello from his back causing Risa to jump a bit.

"Why, hello there my dear Risa, you look quite perky today," Fubuki sang as he took a

deep dramatic bow.

Risa giggled at the boys before noticing Asuka. "Oh my, Asuka is that you? How have you been?" Risa said as she leaned to the side to get a better look at her.

"Oh, Hello Risa, I have been fine!" Asuka answered with a shy smile. The two girls had only ever met once before. Back in December, before the Christmas party, Asuka had come to the cafe with Jim for a 'friendly' lunch. Asuka cheeks went pink as she remembered the nice time she had with the Aussie boy.

"Well then, how about I take your orders," Risa said with a joyful sigh as she readied her pad of paper and pen.

Judai let the other three go first. He was still having trouble deciding on what to get. It had been days since he had a real apatite. With his mind focused only on Johan, Judai did not have time to think about food. He then noticed two items on the 'new items' menu that caused his stomach to grumble. Everyone looked at Judai as his stomach let out a loud groan. "Oh… I guess… I'm a little hungry," Judai said as he placed a hand on his stomach in an attempt to keep it quiet. 'I wonder why those two items made me feel so hungry after so long,'

Judai thought as he studied the two items on the menu.

"Well, it sounds like you have finally decided on what you want, am I right," Risa giggled as she watched the burnet's attempt to quiet his stomach yet again.

"Oh, right. I guess I have," Judai replied with a silly grin as he held one hand on his stomach and the other scratched the back of his head. "Let's see. I will take the Six Fruit Rainbow Dragon Smoothie and… The Ruby Carbuncle Roast Beef Sandwich," Judai order. His three friends all looked at him, surprised written all over their faces. They then looked at each other all wondering if Judai had ordered items names after Johan's duel monsters on purpose or not.

"Well then, I will get your order right up," Risa said as she sent their orders to the kitchen. She then looked to see what seats were available in the restaurant. "Oh! I think the four person table by Johan and Bret is open if you want to join then," Risa said as she looked at her seating chart.

"WHAT!?" Judai shouted at the sound of Johan's name, causing his three friends, Risa and the other people in line to jump in surprise. "Johan is here!?" Judai's sung in excitement as his eyes raced around the room desperately looking for his teal haired crush, his empty stomach completely forgotten. Judai's heart sped up with excitement and his senses went haywire at the prospect that he would be able to see the one thing he had been yearning for since last weekend. "Johan," Judai whispered as he frantically looked for the boy but saw not a single trace of teal.

"Oh, I think he is over there in the corner," Risa said as she pointed to the now empty table that

Johan and Bret had just been sitting at. Judai's eyes followed Risa's finger to the table, his expression was full of longing and excitement. His face immediately fell to a mix of disappointment and panic when he saw that the table was empty. "That's funny… I swear I just saw them…." Risa carried on as she shot a confused look at the table. "I guess they decided to go home or something," she shrugged as she turned back to face Judai and the others.

"Oh, that's okay. We will take whatever table is open," Jim said with a wave of his hand. Jim, Asuka, and Fubuki were all worried about the desperate look in Judai's eye. They knew that the boy had fallen for Johan, but they did not know it was this bad.

"Oh then, why don't you just take that table anyways," Risa said, referring to the four person table located next to Johan's abandoned table. "I will bring your food to you when it is ready," she then added as she handed an order number to the four.

"Thank you very much!" Asuka said as she took the number from Risa. "Shall we go then," she then said as she turned to the three boys she was with.

As Judai followed the other three to their table, his eyes scanned the café in hopes that Johan was still there. As the four arrived at the table something teal and moving fast caught Judai's sharp eyes. Without thinking Judai bellowed "JOHAN!?" as he watched the teal bushel of hair disappear out the back door. "Johan!" Judai gasped as he turned and made his way to the bac door only to be stopped by someone grabbing his wrist.

"Judai? Where are you going? Risa said Johan left. Just sit down and calm yourself," Asuka said

in a calm voice as she pulled Judai back to the table.

"You okay, mate? Looks like you just saw a ghost or something," Jim said as his worried eyes studied Judai.

"No…. I mean… Yeah… I'm fine… I just thought I saw…" Judai stammered as he flopped down at the table and rubbed a hand across his face. He had his back to the wall and sat on the side that was closest to the table next to Johan's old table.

Asuka sat across from Judai and next to Jim. Across form Jim sad Fubuki. The three all exchanged worried looks as they studied Judai's behavior. They could not help but wonder what it was about Johan that caused Judai to lose his cool so easily. "Listen, Judai, it's all goin to be okay. Our plan IS going to work," Asuka was the first to speak. She spoke in a calm and collected voice as she tied to sooth Judai a bit.

"Yeah, mate, it's defiantly going to work out in your favor, I know it is, so try to cheer up," Jim added with a soft smile.

"Yes… and if you keep pouting like this you are going to look just horrible when you confess to him… He is going to run away screaming!" Fubuki pointed out. Judai looked up from his hands and sent Fubuki a half confused half insulated glare while Asuka and Jim simply glared at Fubuki. "Whaaat? I'm just telling the truth… You need to look your best," Fubuki said in deface.

Everyone sat in silence for a second just staring at Fubuki in disbelief. Once again, as if on que, all four broke out into laughter. Despite the weight Judai felt in his heart, he was grateful to have people around him who care so much for his wellbeing. "Yeah… I guess you're right. Wouldn't want Johan to mistake me for a zombie," Judai said as he chuckled a bit. For some reason, being with his three friends shifted his thoughts to be more positive.

"Anyways, we are going to need to get Johan to come to the Valentine Ball if we want this to work," Jim pointed out, sounding a little more serious now.

"Yeah… If he does not show up to the ball, then this is all for shit," Asuka added as she tried to think of a way to coax Johan to go to the ball. She knew Johan would not go to the ball if she asked him, besides, Asuka already had someone she was going to go with. She wondered if he brother could coax him somehow. "Fubuki, do you have any ideas?" Asuka asked.

"Humm… Well I think it will be hard for any of us to coax him to go. If we pry too much, he may get suspicious… but I do have a plan… I know someone who may be able to trick him into going," as he spoke, Fubuki rubbed his chin as if her were in deep thought.

"Who? Who can help me?!" Judai asked in desperation as he turned to Fubuki.

Fubuki turned to Judai, his face the most serious Judai had ever seen it. "Judai, you said that you are willing to do anything to get Johan back, correct?" Fubuki asked, his face still serious.

"Of course… I would do anything, ANYTHING, for Johan," Judai pleaded desperately.

"Well, then, you are just going to have to trust me… and do as I say," Fubuki smirked as Judai went from desperation to confusion.

Judai looked to Asuka and Jim but they too seemed to be just ask confuted. Judai thought for a second before replying to Fubuki. "Yeah…I… I trust you," Judai finally said, meeting Fubuki's serious stare with a serious stare of his own.

At hearing Judai's words, Fubuki's lips spread into a grin. "Great! Then tonight we will visit her!

She will be able to help us for sure," Fubuki sang as he turned away from Judai and looked at the other two. He winked at them and they returned his wink with blank confused stares.

"How are you-" Asuka started to ask but was interrupted by food.

"One Ruby Carbuncle Roast Beef and Rainbow Dragon Smoothis," Risa sang as she plopped Judai's order down in front of him, causing Judai to jump in surprise. She then placed the other orders in front of the respective owners.

"Wow, this looks great," Fubuki hummed as he looked down at his Red Eyes Tomato Wrap.

"Oh thank you Fubuki. I also have one more item, free of charge, for you all to try! It's an item I have yet to release. If you like it, I will put it on display," Risa explained. "So, do you min giving it a try and letting me know?" She pleaded.

The four looked at each other and without saying a work all know what the answer was. "When have I ever given up free food," Judai said with a big smirk.

"Great!" Risa sang as she clapped her hand together. Without another word she turned back to the serving tray and extracted four mini blueberry tarts. She placed all four tarts on the table. "I call it, The Sapphire Pegasus Very Berry Tart."

The four all studied their tarts before taking a bit. There was a freshness to the tart that reminded Judai of Johan. Just the thought of Johan sent a shiver down his spine. With a deep sigh, Judai sunk his fork into the tart and took a bit. To his surprise, the tart tasted just as fresh and sweet as it looked. Without meaning to he, let loose a loud "Mmmm," as he swallowed. The sweet light feel to the cake reminded Judai of Johan's enchanting smile.

"Wow, this is great Risa!" Jim commented after taking a bite.

"It's so light and refreshing." Asuka added before taking another bite.

"Oh! I am so happy you all enjoy it so much! I will defiantly make it a regular item then," Risa sang as she delicately clapped her hands. "Well I will leave you all to your meals," she said as she readied herself to leave. "Oh, before I go, I found this at the table Johan had been sitting at. I think it may belong to him, could you bring it to him for me," Risa said as she placed the broken Ruby Carbuncle keychain on their table. With that she bid the group a good bye.

Judai felt his heart drop the second his eyes caught sight of the charm. Johan had been here, and he had left the gift Judai had given him behind. Was this part of Johan's way of moving on? Was Johan done with Judai? Had Bret won? Judai felt all his courage escape his body as these thought raced through his mind.

"Hey, isn't this the keychain you got Johan? I wonder what it's doing here" Fubuki stupidly asked, causing both Jim and Asuka to shoot him death glares.

Judai did not reply. He reached out and picked up the small broken charm in his hand. "Why would he…" Judai unintentionally whispered a loud.

The three friends all exchanged worried glances. They could all see very well that something in

Judai was about to break. "Well!" Jim said in a loud voice, causing Judai to look up from the charm. "If you ask me, mate, it looks like it must have snapped off… He probably had it on his bag or something and it simply fell," Jim sighed, trying to make it sound like the matter was not too big of a deal.

Judai looked back down at the keychain to see that it had been ripped off from something. He eye were full of uncertainty as he studied the figure. "Judai, listen, this does not prove that Johan is over you! Like Jim said, he probably just dropped it. I bet Johan is going to be in a mad panic when he finds that it's gone. We all know that Johan is not the type to toss something like this way," Asuka reassured before Judai could fall deeper into his negative thoughts.

"Asuka is right, besides, we still have our plan. It is full proof, so there is no need to worry, my dear Judai!" Fubuki sang as he slung an arm around Judai's shoulder.

Judai let loose another sigh as he looked from the keychain to his friends. They all returned his uncertain look with encouraging smiles. After a moment Judai too smiled. "Your right, I can't give up!" Judai whispered as he pocketed the figure. "Now let's get eating and discuss exactly how we are going to execute this plan!" Judai cheered as he tried to lift his spirits. 'Everyone is right! There is still time to make Johan mine!'

XXX

Judai followed Fubuki as they both entered Johan's dorm building. "Fubuki! I know I said I trusted you but… You better not be leading me to Bret," Judai hissed as he followed Fubiki to the elevator.

"Oh now, Judai, you have no need to worry. Does it really matter who I am leading you to, as long as it gets you to your goal, right?" Fubuki replied with a sly grin as he entered the elevator and pushed the '4' button.

"Yeah, yeah…" Judai replied, avoiding eye contact with Fubuki. Part of Judai wondered if this was some sort of crazy set up to get him and Johan back together. What would Judai do if Fubuki had set him up to meet with Johan now? Suddenly Judai's stomach started to feel funny. Distracted by his now upset stomach, Judai did not notice when the elevator arrived at their destination.

"We're here!" Fubuki sang as he stepped out of the elevator and waited for Judai to follow.

Judai stepped out of the elevator without a word as he tried to control his upset stomach and his now beating heart. 'It's okay Judai! If he even if he does make you confront Johan now, you can do this. Seeing Johan is what you have been wanted all this time! Don't mess this up!' Judai inwardly screamed to himself as he took a deep breath.

"Follow me!" Fubuki hummed as he led Judai down the hall that housed Johan's room.

With a nod, Judai followed after Fubuki. He felt the juices in his stomach splash around as he tried to calm his nerves. 'It's okay! It's all going to be okay,' he thought to himself as he took deep even breaths. Judai's eyes were fixed on Johan's door, and Johan's door only, as he walked. It was as if everything else in the dorm disappeared and that door was the only thing that mattered. With his eye fixed sully on Johan's door, Judai did not notice that Fubuki stopped. "OOF," Judai huffed as he ran into Fubuki. "What did you stop for?" he asked, wondering why they had not gone all the way to Johan's room.

"What? What do you mean? We are here," Fubuki said, giving Judai an annoyed look.

"But this isn't Johan's room," Judai said pointing to the pink flower decorated door they were standing outside of.

"What? What are you talking about, Judai? Who said anything about going to Johan's room? Why would we go there to plan your surprise confession! It would not be a surprise if we did that," Fubuki said with an overly dramatic roll of his eyes.

"I… Da… Thought… eh?" Judai stuttered as he gave Fubuki a dumb stare. Judai thought for sure that they would be going to Johan's room to talk with Bret, or confess now to Johan. If they were not here to see Johan or Bret, then who were they going to meet?

"Well, what are you waiting for? Knock on the door?" Fubuki said as he gestured to Judai to knock on the floral door they were standing outside of.

"What? Me?" Judai said, his voice full of bewilderment. He looked to the flowered door and felt that there was something familiar about it.

"Yes, you!" Fubuki hissed. "I'm not the one who is chasing after Johan and asking people for help, now am I?"

Judai looked to Fubuki and nodded. His crazy friend did have a point. "All right, all right, but you will help me explain, right? I am still not 100% sure how this plan is going to work," Judai said as he tried to think of the best way to explain his situation to this mystery person that Fubuki swears by.

"Oh don't worry. Just make sure you show her that you really mean it when it comes to winning Johan's heart," Fubuki said with a warm smile.

Judai nodded as he readied himself to knock on the door. "Okay, here we go," he said more to himself then to Fubuki. He then lifted his hand and knocked three times on the door.

"Coming~!" came a girly singsong voice that Judai recognized. The door then swung open to show an overly jubilous Liz.

"Um, hey Liz," Judai greeted awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say.

Liz's lips and eyes went from happy and inviting, to furious and demonic at the sight of Judai. "YOU! How dare you break sweet little Johan's heart," she bellowed, her eyes burning with fire. Before Judai could do so much as take a breath, Liz lifted her hand and slapped Judai clear across the face.

Judai's eyes widened in surprise as the girl's hand made contact with his left cheek. All three sat in utter silence as the sound of the smack echoed down the quiet hall. "…Ouch," Judai said in a monotone voice as he lifted a hand to his now reddening cheek. He had not expected a smack across the face but for some reason it made him feel a bit better. His mind was clearer. He then shook himself from his awkward trans and looked up to Liz. "Liz… Please… Listen to me… I never meant to break Johan's heart… I am such an idiot! I … I … I" Judai frantically spoke as he tried to find the right words to coax the girl into seeing how sorry he was.

"Wait, wait wait? What did you just say?" Liz said as she tried to process what Judai was saying, her hands waiving in the air in an attempt to get Judai to shut up. "You… You mean, like, you don't hate Johan?" Liz questioned as she eyed Judai.

Judai's eyes widened in shock at Liz's words. "What? Ha-Hate Johan?" Judai gasped as he tried to figure out why Liz would think such a thing. "No! I… I… Johan is the most important person to me," Judai said, eyeing Liz as if she were crazy for thinking such a thing.

"What? Well with the way Johan was mourning over your rejection, like, anyone would have assumed that you…. Ya know, weren't too nice about letting him down," Liz said her glair became more friendly.

Judai felt his heart drop at the sound of Liz's words. "Wh-what? Did he really cry that much?" he asked, his eyes full of worry. "I-I never meant to… to hurt him like this," Judai sighed in a shaky voice.

Liz studied Judai, trying to make heads or tails of weather the boy was really telling the

truth. She then looked up and down the empty hall. "Why don't you come in," Liz finally said,

gesturing for the two boys to enter her dorm room. Once both were in the room she slowly

closed the door.

"Well if it isn't the heart breaker," Jasmine greeted from her bed as she saw Judai enter the

room, her voice mostly sarcastic and teasing.

"Oh, um, hi Jasmine," Judai said in a very humble tone. He could not help but feel like he deserved it.

"Hello!" Jasmine simply replied before going back to her book on medieval fairy tales

.

Judai looked away from the girl feeling slightly dejected. 'Is everyone mad at me for what I

did…?' he thought as guilt set in. He had not really known up till now just how down Johan

must have really be.

"Don't worry about her, she is always like this when guests come over," Liz said, she returning

to her cheerful self. "Why don't you two sit down. You have something to tell me, right?" Liz

said as she gestured for the two boys to sit in two empty desk chairs what were near her

bed. She then strolled over to her bed and sat down.

Both Judai and Fubuki nodded and took a seat in the empty chairs. Judai was a bit unsure

about asking Liz for help. He had only met the girl a few times and didn't know her too

well. Judai could not help but wonder if Liz even cared about his predicament. He twiddled his

thumbs as he tried to find the right words to describe what he needed from the girl.

"So, why don't you explain to me what is going on and why you need my help," Liz sighed as

she turned to look at Fubuki.

"I think the best person to explain would be Judai…" Fubuki sang as his gaze fell on Judai

causing the love sick boy to shift in his seat nervously.

Liz lifted an eyebrow as her eye moved from Fubuki to Judai. "Well then, Judai, why don't you

explain to me what is going on…" she said as she tilted her head. She could not help but

wonder if Johan had taken Judai's reaction to his confession the wrong way; this excited her.

Judai looked from Liz to Fubuki as he tried to think of the right way to coax the girl into

believing that he really did love Johan back. "Well, you see, as Johan may have told you… He

confessed his feelings for me… and at the time… I was very surprised and…" Judai carried on

explaining his side of the story to Liz. He explained about how he never meant to hurt Johan

and how he felt his heart break when he saw the tears in Johan's eyes. He also told her about

his failed confession attempts.

"Wait, so, like, you're the one who made that cake?" Liz asked, her eyes wide and unbelieving.

"Y-Yeah… I made it all from scratch," Judai admitted as a light blush spread across his cheeks. "But… how did you know about the cake… I thought Johan never received it… If he did get the cake then why didn't he… call me back," Judai said as his eyes fell to the floor, his heart heavy with the realization that Johan had deliberately ignored his plea to fix their relationship.

"Judai, Johan had no clue that the cake was for him, nor did he receive any note. Johan told me that the cake was from Bret's secret admirer…" Liz said as she started to put pieces of the puzzle together. Liz had guessed long ago that Bret held 'more than just friends' feelings for Johan, but she never expected him to sabotage Johan's chances with Judai. "And you said you were going to give Johan chocolates and a rose as well…?" Liz said as she thought hard about what she had seen on Johan's side.

"Yeah… Why?" Judai asked as he tilted his head to the side. He had told her about his last

attempt to see Johan and how Bret had stopped him; though he did leave out a few details, like

how freaked out Bret had seemed.

"You know, now that I, like, think about it, Johan did come to class with a beat up rose. When I

asked him, like, where he found it, he had said it was on the floor outside his room… Looks like

Johan received both the cake and the rose! Too bad he didn't realize it was, like, from you," Liz

explained with a 'that's too bad' look on her face.

"What? So he found both the cake and the rose," Judai mumbled as his mind reviewed what he

had just learned. "But… he didn't know it was me… Did he like them; the cake and the rose I

mean?" Judai asked, his soft brown eyes full of hope.

"Well I don't know about the cake, Johan seemed to talk highly of it, but he was, like, totally enchanted by the rose. He said, like, he just could not bring himself to toss it. All class he would just, like, look at it and smile. I bet you he still has it," Liz said with an encouraging grin. Liz's hostility towards Judai nearly vanished after hearing his side of the story. Being good friends with Johan, she wanted to do all she could to help Judai get with her teal haired friend.

Judai mouth formed into a smile as he listened to Liz. Thought of Johan receiving his failed attempts and feeling comforted by them really made Judai's heart beat with joy. He just hoped that his next attempt won't end in failure as well.

"So, like, I take it, you have another plan up your sleeve, is there anything I can do to help?" Liz asked.

"Well, you see-" Judai started say before being cut off.

"Acctually! There is something you can do, my dear Liz," Fubuki spoke up after being quiet for so long. Judai shot an annoyed look at Fubuki for cutting him off. Fubuki replied to the glare with an encouraging wink.

"Oh really now, do tell…" Liz said as she gently tapped the tips of her fingers together.

"Well you see, we need to get Johan to go to the Valentine's Day Ball this Saturday…" Fubuki began to explain. Both Fubuki and Judai took turns explaining the elaborate plan they had made. Liz listened carefully to their plan and with each new thing they told her, the more excited she became.

"Oh my, like, that is totally romantic," Liz sang after the two boys had finished explaining, causing Judai to blush a bit.

"Yeah, but the only problem is how to get Johan to come to the ball. I have a feeling he would turn me down if I asked him," Fubuki stated as he tried to think of a way to coax the teal haired boy.

"Yeah… That's, like, a tough one… But there must be some way to, like, get him there without having to, like, tie him up and drag him," Liz hummed as she too tried to think of a good idea. "OH! I got it," Liz sang as she hopped off her bed.

"You do? What? HOW? How will we get Johan to come?" Judai asked in excitement as his heart beat like crazy.

"Well, it's quite simple really," Liz said, sticking a finger in the air as if she were a professor teaching some insane topic.

"Do tell, do tell," Fubuki sang in excitement.

"Well, first we will need to, like, ask 'him' for help… do you think he would help?... With the proper coaxing…" Liz listed off as she spoke.

"Wait! Who is 'he'…?" Fubuki asked, not understanding what the girl was alluding to.

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold up! You're not going to tell me that 'he' is Bret, are you?" Judai asked, knowing that the only possible person 'he' could be was Bret.

Liz shot Judai a guilty smile. "Judai, I know what you must be thinking after what he did to you… but Bret is the only person I can think of," Liz said apologetically.

"No, No, NO! I don't want anything to do with him!" Judai said as he stood up, stomping his foot on the ground to exaggerate how he felt, causing Jasmine to lazily look up from her book. "He would never help me! Even if I did ask," Judai grumbled, looking to the floor in defeat.

"Judai, listen, Bret really does care for Johan, and he probably feels a bit bitter towards you for rejecting Johan. And I know, like, that what he did was… not very nice, but I think he can really help us… All he needs is, like, a bit of coaxing to see that you and Johan are really meant for each other…" Liz spoke in a very calm voice as she told this all to Judai. She knew that if they got Bret on their side, he would be able to find some way to make Johan go to the ball.

"Liz… I don't think… I will be able to… ya know… talk to that guy without… punching him in the face," Judai said, still looking to the floor. Judai really was willing to do whatever it took to win Johan back but he didn't know if he could talk civilly with Bret without war breaking out.

"Tehehe, oh silly Judai," Liz giggled as she looked at the heart broken boy in front of her. "I was thinking that, like, I could be the one to talk to him. I have a feeling I know the perfect way to, like, get him to see the light," Liz said with a sly grin. "Just leave it to me! I promise that I will be able to get Bret to help out, and you won't have to, like, speak a word to him!"

Judai studied Liz's face as he listened to her. No matter how much he tried, he could not find any other way to make sure Johan came to the ball. "I… I guess… If there is no other way…" Judai mumbled as he looked to the ground. He sat in silence for a moment before looking back up at Liz. "But if he does anything to mess this up…!" Judai said, his eyes full of fire.

"If he does anything to mess this up, we can all take turns beating the crap out of him," Liz sang with a joyous smile. "Now, tomorrow is Monday, so that gives us about 5 to 6 days to get this done. I will try to coax Bret tomorrow before their water polo practice. I will try to let you know by Wednesday if it all worked out or not," Liz said with a nod of her head.

Though Judai was having a hard time trusting this girl he barely knew, he was thankful that she was so willing to help him get with Johan. "Thank you Liz, you don't know how much this means to me," Judai said as a small smile spread across his face.

"Don't mention it dude, anything to make Johan happy!" Liz replied.

The three chatted a while longer before Judai and Fubuki left. On the way back to their dorm, Judai could not help but feel very nervous. He hoped to Ra that this would all work out in the end. The idea of not having Johan as his own was driving him crazy. Despite his sudden lust for the boy, the one thing Judai wanted most was to see Johan's shining smile yet again.

XXX

Bret jumped in his seat when he heard a knock at his door. It was around 3pm and he had been reading a very confusing chapter for his Economics class. As he stood up and walked to the door, he could not help but wonder if Judai had come back to try and woo over Johan again. 'Pathetic,' Bret thought as he rolled his eyes, though deep down he was still slightly terrified of Judai.

When he got to the door he sung it open expecting to meet brown eyes but was instead met by an overly cheerful bright green gaze. "Hello, Bret," Liz squeaked in a perky high-pitched voice.

"Why, hello their Liz," Bret said as he leaned on the door frame, trying to look as cool as he could.

"May I come in? I, like, have something really awesome I need to talk with you about," Liz asked as she shot her best 'this is going to be great' look at Bret.

"Oh, awesome? I do love awesome. Come on in," Bret hummed as he stepped aside to let Liz into the room, shutting the door behind her.

Liz immediately took Johan's desk chair, dragged it over to Bret's side of the room and sat down. Her wide green eyes followed Bret as she waited for him to take a seat.

Bret felt the girl's gaze and knew that she wanted to talk right away. With a sigh he sat down in his own desk chair. "So, what's got you so hyped up…?" Bret asked as he lazily swung his hand over the back of his chair and leaned back.

"I, like, heard about the cake…" Liz said, her friendly look truing a bit more serious.

"What… What are you talking about?" Bret said, not understating what his crazy female friend was getting at.

"Bret… Why have you been lying to Johan?" Liz asked neglecting to answer Bret's question.

"What… Lying to Johan? I haven't-" but Bret was not able to finish.

"YOU, told Johan that the cake was from some 'secret admirer', when in fact, it was really from Judai," Liz accused as she stared down Bret.

Bret's heart stopped when he heard Liz's words. "How did you know about the cake?" Bret whispered before he could stop himself.

"So Judai WAS telling the truth… and you," Liz whispered, her eyes full of disappointment. "You have been lying to Johan this whole time, Bret… Johan trusts you. How could you lie to him like this, especially when he is in such need of the truth," Liz said, her voice full of emotion.

Bret felt shame overtake his being as he listened to his friend. He was unable to look at the disappointing Liz, his eyes falling to the floor. "I… I don't know what you're talking about…" he mumbled. He was still not able to admit to what he did. Why? Why should he? Why should he allow Judai to have Johan after what he did.

"Bret… Why did you lie about the cake… and the rose… and what ever happened to the letter?" Liz said, wanting to hear the truth from her flirty friend.

"I don't get it!" Bret whispered, causing Liz to scoot closer to him to hea better. "I don't get why you are all so won over by Judai? What has he ever done to make any of us believe that he is good for Johan?" Bret carried on, his tone becoming a bit louder as he spoke. "Why do you all seem so enchanted by that brown haired twat! All he does is make Johan cry! And when he does not get his way, he turns into some kind of terrifying monster! JOHAN DOES NOT DESERVE SOMETHING SO VIOLENT AND UNCARING IN HIS LIFE!" Bret's eyes burned with stubborn hatred as he shouted this at Liz.

*Smack* was the sound Liz's hand made as he stuck Bret across the face. "Listen to yourself! You talk about caring so much for Johan, yet you lie and make up all these crazy stories about the person he loves. Your letting your jealousy get the best of you! You're the reason Johan has been crying this whole time! You know that if you had told him the truth, he would have happily gone to Judai! The only person you REALLY care about is yourself BRET!" Liz spat as she got up into Bret's face. It hurt her to speak to a friend in such a way but she knew she had to do it. Bret was acting like a spoiled child.

Bret sat stunned as he lifted a hand to his now red cheek. It hurt to hear the truth. He had known that what he was doing was despicable, but his selfishness had gotten the better of him. Bret slowly sat down as shame took over once again. "But Judai… he… he was the one that broke his heart… not me…" Bret whispered, his gaze refusing to meet Liz's.

"Bret… I know it seems that way, but as Johan's friends, we need to let Johan decide for himself if he is willing to forgive Judai or not. I know you want to protect him, but all you are doing is hurting him," Liz explained in hopes to show Bret what the right thing to do was.

Bret still refused to meet Liz's gaze, his mind still processing what he had heard from his friend. He sat in silence, not wanting to admit to his wrong doings. He had known all along that all Johan wanted was Judai. He had hoped that, maybe, if he kept them apart, Johan would give up on the brown haired duelist.

"Bret… are you willing to help… help Johan and Judai with their second chance at love…?" Liz asked, waiting for an answer. Bret did not answer, let alone move a single muscle. "Well, this is what I need from you, if you do decide to do the right thing and help. We need to get Johan to that ball that is going to be held this weekend…" Liz said, pausing yet again for any sort of reaction from the purple haired boy. After a few moments of nothing she stood up to leave. She knew that she had to give Bret some time to think it all over. "Please, Bret… If anything, do it for Johan," Liz pleaded one last time before leaving the purple haired boy with his thoughts.

XXX

That night Johan arrived back at his dorm after dinner. He had been worried about his roommate. For some reason Bret had not shown up to water polo practice. 'He seemed fine this morning and afternoon, maybe it was something he ate…' Johan thought as he unlocked the door to his room and let himself in.

When Johan entered the room, he was greeted by an awkwardly quiet Bret. Most days, Bret would greet him with a 'Welcome back, Doll Face,' any time Johan entered the room. At the moment Bret was on his computer typing away with his headphones in his ears.

A sly smile spread across Johan's face as a wicked idea popped into his head. He picked up a dirty sock from the floor and quietly made his way over to Bret. With one swift movement Johan shoved the sock into the unexpected boys face. "Bwhaaaa!" Bret shouted as he flung his arms into the air.

Johan could not help but laugh as he watched his, normally cool roommate, lose his cool. "Gotcha!" Johan said, subconsciously making the pose Judai normally makes when he beats people in a duel.

Bret ripped the sock from his face and shot a playful glare at Johan. "What is it with you and assaulting me with dirty socks," Bret exclaimed in a playful manner.

"What? It wasn't me! Dirty socks are just attracted to your face," Johan exclaimed as he tried to hide how much pleasure this all gave him. Johan had been shaken up for most of Saturday, after seeing Judai and was devastated to find that his Ruby keychain had gone missing. It had been one of the few things that gave him hope. He had a feeling that it was still at the café and when he found time, he planned to go back to the café and look for it. Despite his devastation for losing one of his prized possessions as well as getting over his heartbreak, he had been able to keep his composure. He still longed to be with Judai, but for the most part, he was able to lock away his feeling when around others, he even sort of stopped crying in the shower.

The two boys laughed and chatted for the rest of the night. Johan had completely forgotten about the off behavior Bret had shown when he had first entered the room. "Well, I guess it's time for me to hit the hay," Johan said as he stretched his arms to the heavens.

"Awww, already? But it's only 10pm," Bret pouted as he watched Johan crawl into bed.

"Well, unlike someone, I went to water polo practice and worked by butt off in that pool," Johan teased, sticking his tongue out like a child.

"Well, excuse me for needed to catch up on my work," Bret lied as he too returned Johan's gesture. He had actually spent the time wallowing in his own self-pity, but he was not going to tell Johan that.

"Well, you better not skip out tomorrow! Coach is going to kill you if you do," Johan warned as he cuddled down deep into his warm covers.

"Yeah, Yeah, Mom! I promise to not piss off coach," Bret teased.

Johan shot Bret another playful scowl before yawning yet again. "Well, good night! Don't stay up too late!" Johan hummed as his heavy eyes lids fluttered shut.

"Night, Doll Face," Bret said, his eye softening as he watched Johan's delicate eyelids cover his green eyes. Bret sat studying Johan for a moment before turning back to his computer.

Bret sat up for a good hour before sleep started to settle in. He had spent the majority of the time thinking about what Liz had told him. He knew that what he had done was wrong and that he was being selfish, but it was hard for him to just hand Johan over. Bret had never been so infatuated by anyone like he was with Johan. Part of Bret really hoped that Johan would get over Judai and come to him, but another part of him, the part he mostly ignored, knew that Johan only had eyes for one person. Bret stood up from his chair and stretched his arms up high. He glanced over at the now sound asleep Johan, his heart fluttered in his chest at the sight of the boy.

Without thinking Bret strolled over to the sleeping teal haired boy. Johan was laying on his back, his had slightly stilted towards Bret. His head was the only part of him that was not nestled in blankets. Bret sighed as he looked down at the boy that had stolen his heart. "Oh, Doll Face… What should I do…?" Bret whispered as he studied the boy.

To Bret's surprise, Johan started to mumble in his sleep. "J-Judai… I love… you… too," Johan mumbled as a sweet smile spread across his pink lips.

Bret felt a wave a joyously and hurt over take him at hearing Johan's dreamy words. Was Judai really the only thing Johan ever thought about? Bret then looked to the sweet smile on Johan's face. Bret had not seen a smile this sweet on Johan in ages. Why did Johan always save his most precious of smiles for Judai! 'Why not me?' Bret thought as his mind began to drown in a pool of emotions.

With his mind full of mixed emotions Bret leaned down to steal the sweet smile from the lips of the sleeping Johan. He bent over and planted a firm kiss on Johan's soft pink lips, savoring the kiss as if it were some rare fruit. He felt Johan shift awkwardly so he pulled back. The look on Johan's face sent a disappointed shiver down Bret's spine. Johan's brows were screwed up and his sweet smile was now replaced by an awkward grimace. Johan shifted in his bed as he lifted his hand from under the sheets and rubbed the unwanted kiss from his lips. He then rolled over and turned his back to Bret.

Bret knew that this was Johan's answer. He had known all along that this was Johan's answer; he had just been running away from it. 'Why did it have to be this way?' Bret thought as me mindlessly walked to his side of the room and slumped down on his bed. 'The first person I ever really want… and they don't want me back… figures,' Bret's mind screamed causing him to he sigh and rub his face as the irony that is his life hit him. Despite being rejected, Bret wanted nothing more than to see a smile on Johan's doll like face. With a sigh, Bret looked at Johan one last time. Despite every last fiber of his being telling him no, he knew what he had to do. With that thought in mine, Bret laid his head down on his pillow and tried to think of a way to get Johan to go to the ball.

((Hehehe, well I guess chapter 13 is not the end! You will have to wait for Chapter 14 to see if it all works out. So what did you think about Chapter 13? I felt it was a bit all over the place and maybe sort of rushed. I promise to take more time with Chapter 14, so that means it will probably take me more than a week to finish it. I want it to be… perfect? Or as perfect as I can get it! I wonder what Bret plans to do to help. Do you think he really will help in the end? I don't know :P Also, will the plan work out, or till it all fall apart? We will just have to wait and see.

So I just realized in this chapter that I totally forgot to write Pharaoh and Daitoguchi-sensei into the story and am so ashamed! I think I may have mentioned them at the very beginning! Well, I feel like it's a bit too late to add them now. I do plan on making a sequel to this and will add them in there. I will talk more about the sequel at the end of the last chapter w.

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! It's always nice to see what you all have to say and how the chapter made you feel!

I want to thank Judaisbutt for being my beta.

If you noticed I have a new cover picture for this story. I would like to thank JaydenNg for making it. I really do love it. Here is a link to the DA page where is it posted art/Uncharted-Islands-Fanfic-Cover-Art-by-Jayden-3 96024911 ))


	15. Chapter 14

((Okay so here is the final chapter! Sorry it took so long to get out! I wanted to take more time with it to make sure it came out perfect. Please enjoy.))

((**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yugioh GX or any of the songs that are mentions in this chapter.))

((**Warning!** This chapter is both sweet and cheese. You may get some cavities from reading this chapter! Also, those who are lactose intolerance, take heed, for this chapter contains a lot of cheese! I guess you could call this chapter one big cheese cake! Sweet and cheese!))

Chapter 14

"I cannot believe this!" Johan groaned as he buried his face into his pillow and let loose an exasperated moan.

The past few days for him had been relatively decent, despite the fact that he was still getting over his heartbreak. Johan's logic told him that he should at least be somewhat over Judai by now, but his heart did not seem to agree. He had tried many time to talk himself out of crushing on Judai in the past few days but only ended up remembering why he loved Judai so much. 'His soft brown eye, his smooth sun kissed skin, his silky brown hair, his shining smile, the way his nose wrinkles up when he laughs really hard,' Johan sighed as this all, and more, ran through his head. 'If only I had kept my mouth shut… I could be with him now… still hiding my love for him,' Johan felt his heart sink yet again as this passed through his mind. He stared blankly at the ceiling as his mind thought of only Judai. He sat there silently for a few seconds, unaware that Bret had been shooting him worried looks since they had arrived back from water polo practice.

"Hey…Um… You okay there Doll Face," Bret asked as he lifted a concerted brow.

Johan jumped at the sound of his roommate's voice, bringing his mind back to why he had been so frustrated. For the past week and a half most of Johan's emotions and thought were full of nothing but Judai and Judai alone, but today was different. The frustration he was feeling did not revolve around Judai; well some of it did but that is beside the face. The epicenter for Johan's current frustration lied manly of the events that occurred during water polo practice; that the two had only just arrived back from.

Johan sat up on his bed, his legs dangling off the side, and shot a disgruntled look at his roommate. "I can't believe coach is making us do this," Johan groaned, neglecting to answer Bret's original question.

Bret felt like smirking as he watched his teal haired roommate have a borderline childish meltdown. "What? It's not like it's the end of the world, Doll Face. It's just the valentine ball…" Bret said with a shrug.

"J-J-ust tha-the…" Johan stuttered in frustration as he tried to regain control of himself. Normally, Johan did not have any problem with formal affairs like this. Normally, it never really mattered to him. Normally, Johan did not take any mind to Valentine's Day. But this was not a normal time for Johan in any way. Johan had planned to spend the day of the ball locked up in his room wallowing in his own self-pity. He knew that seeing all those happy couples would just remind him of what a loser he was; a loser that Judai didn't love. Johan shook his head as he tried to keep all thought of his crush out of his mind.

"Calm down Doll Face, it's not like you really have to partake in the ball! We will be helping many people out by doing this," Bret said in an attempt to calm his roommate.

It was true, the coach of the water polo team had signed up all the freshman and sophomores to help out at the ball. The team members were going to do things such as serve food and drinks to people and greet at the doors. Since it was free help, the school did not have to spend the extra money on servers and would instead donate the money to a worthy cause. The coach had really given them no choice but to go, unless they had a good reason not to. Johan knew that his reason was not good enough to appease his coach and it was hard to lie to the man; even Bret discouraged Johan from missing the event.

"I just… I don't know," Johan sighed as he flopped back down into his bed, his right arm now slung over his face covering his gem green eyes.

"Listen, Doll Face, I know it's hard and painful but you can't keep yourself locked up like this forever! You are eventually going to have to go out there and face reality," Bret said, feeling guilty for having to be so hard on the kid. Despite all the acting Johan did outside of their dorm room, he knew that Johan was nowhere near being over Judai.

Johan felt anger well up at Bret's words, though he knew his roommate was just telling him the truth. The truth was something Johan was still hiding from. It was something that he was not ready for and going out to a social event revolving around love was just too much at the moment. Johan let loose a loud sigh as all his worries bubbled in his brain.

"Johan, it's not like you are going to be alone, and we will all probably be so busy with helping out that we won't have time to notice the guests at the ball," Bret said, his voice was a bit uncharacteristically serious. "It will probably be fun, too," he carried on, his tone a bit lighter. "We will get full access to the food as well… all you can eat cheese cake and chocolate covered strawberries," Bret hummed the last part as if it were the best incentive to go.

Johan removed his arm from his face and glanced over at his roommate. He saw that Bret was shooting him a silly smile. Johan suddenly felt extremely childish for the way he had been acting. "Yeah… I guess I can't pass up all you can eat free cheese cake," Johan said, returning Bret's smirk. 'As long as I keep myself busy, this ball should not be too bad,' Johan thought as he tried to make lemonade out of lemons. Then a thought occurred to him that never occurred before. 'W-what if Judai…' Johan's eyes widened at the thought of seeing Judai at the ball.

Bret could tell what and who Johan was thinking about just by the look on the boy's face. "Don't tell me… Judai…am I right?" Bret asked with a cocky smirk.

"But… But…What if he's there… and what if he comes… not alone," Johan gasped, as he thought of Judai going to the Valentine's Day ball with someone else. A sudden panicked pain shot through Johan's heart.

Bret could not help but smirk at the sound of Johan's words. "Okay, Doll Face, now you're just talking crazy. Do you really think that guy would set foot in a ball like this, let alone have enough brains to ask someone to it," Bret chuckled as he spoke.

Johan felt a tinge of anger as he listened to Bret. He didn't like it when Bret talked down about Judai. But Bret did have a point; Judai was not the type to attending an event like this. Johan's anxiety started to fade as logic set in. "Yeah, I guess you're right," Johan sighed as he rubbed his face and sat up. He sat quietly on his bed for a moment as his mind cleared. "I just hope we don't get stomach aches," Johan added after a long moment of silence.

"What!?" Bret asked, not quite understanding how a stomach ache had anything to do with Johan's love problems.

"I mean come on… All that cheese cake! I bet you I could eat a whole cake on my own without any side effects," Johan chuckled as he spoke.

A smirk spread across Bret's face as he realized what Johan was talking about. "Oh, yeah, Doll Face! Well I bet you can't!" Bret playfully sneered.

The two went on for the rest of the night making empty bets about the amount of food Johan's could eat without getting sick. Before Johan knew it, it was already bedtime. Before going to sleep the boy opened his phone and looked at his calendar. It read Wednesday. It meant he had just two more full days before the ball. Though chatting with Bret had helped Johan accept his fate, he could not help but feel uneasy about the whole affair.

XXXX

An unsatisfied grimace was spread across Johan's pink lips as he studied his reflection in Bret's full length mirror. He had been dreading this moment for the past two days and it had finally arrived. Johan knew that he was being stubborn and childish but he could not help how he felt. He had made a promise to himself to try his best to put on a happy face while at the ball, despite how he really may feel. He didn't want to ruin the ball for the guests simply because he was feeling down. Johan hated it when his negative emotions affected others.

He knew that for the past two weeks his slump had affected both his friends and his family. He could tell that something about Bret had changed since the rejection and Johan could not help but blame himself. Everything just seemed a lot less cheerful and Johan knew he was probably to blame. He also knew that Liz was trying her best to make him feel better. It made Johan uncomfortable when others went out of their way to help him. If his heart was not so stubborn about loving Judai, then none of this would have happened. He would have been able to get over Judai and move on. 'Why must I be so loyal,' Johan inwardly sighed.

The worst part of this whole ordeal was how it had affected the gem beasts. They had been nothing but good to Johan since the second Judai rejected home. Ruby had made it a point to sleep by Johan's side almost every night, watching over him as he slept. Whenever Johan had a moment away from others, the gem beasts would always come and encourage him with loving words. Sapphire Pegasus was still convinced that all was not lost. He was almost certain that things would work out well in the end. Amethyst Cat, on the other hand, always reminded Johan about how wonderful he was and how stupid Judai must be. Topaz Tiger and Cobalt Eagle would always try to cheer Johan up with a joke or a silly story. Emerald Turtle would always tell some crazy story about when he was younger, though Johan had a feeling that many of his stories were made up. Johan enjoyed the storied none the less. Amber Mammoth would usually just sit quietly with Johan and not say much, just comfort the boy with his company. He was the most quiet out of the bunch and would only ever speak up if need be it.

Once at the beach, a day or two after the rejection, Rainbow Dragon had made a cameo. This had surprised Johan but also touched him. He never expected Rainbow Dragon to show up to comfort him. The dragon normally only showed up when danger was about. At the time Johan had been crying alone and Rainbow Dragon had appeared next to Johan, laying his big dragon spirit head in Johan's lap. Johan was half thankful half disappointed that the dragon was only a spirit. At the time, part of him wanted to rest his head on the dragon as he cried but another part of him knew that Rainbow Dragon is far too large and would crush Johan if he ever tried to cuddle up into his lap. Now that Johan reflected on it, he could not help but compare the dragon to a big dog who thinks it is small.

He was grateful for the support he gained from his deck family. He knew that these past two weeks had been hard on them as well. Not only did they have to put up with Johan's heart break, but Johan had skipped dueling class two weeks in a row, meaning not much dueling had gone on for Johan and his deck. Throughout this time he had duel Bret once or twice as well as James and Jasmine but he had been able to beat them in only a few turns every time. A few times Johan had thought about seeing Jim and Fubuki but would always chicken out; in fear that he would run into Judai. He hoped that he would be able to pull himself out of this slump soon so that he would get back to dueling challenging opponents.

Johan shook his worries about his recent lack of dueling and looked at himself once more in the full length mirror. A pair of nicely fitting black pants hung from Johan's slim waist. Around his waist, holding the pants in place was a shiny black belt. Tucked into his pants was a fitted button up shirt. Over the shirt was a black vest that hung down to his belt and showed off Johan's figure well. Around his neck was a bright pink tied that hung down and tucked into his vest. This was the uniform he and the other players on the team were meant to wear. Johan did not mind the outfit too much; it was not as restricting as a suit and was pretty easy to move in. Despite the event being a formal affair, Johan had neglected to style his hair. He was too lazy and didn't think anyone would really notice in the end.

"Well, you look sharp, Doll Face," Bret commented as he sauntered out of the bathroom. He too had his uniform on except he had a bright red necktie. The tie one wore indicated where they would be working. Since Bret's ties was red, he would be working at the doors greeting people. Johan on the other hand had a pink tie. This meant he would be serving food and drinks to people.

"Ya think so…?" Johan hummed as he twirled a lock of his gorgeous teal hair in his fingers. He was deciding if he really should style his hair or not.

"Yeah, but maybe you should do something about your hair… It's a bit wild and we do have a few minutes before we leave," Bret hummed as he studied Johan's messy hairdo.

Johan turned to Bret with a playful grimace. "Well, I think it looks just fine," Johan sang playfully as he made his way back to his side of the room. He had decided not to style it.

"Whatever, Doll Face," Bret said as he playfully rolled his eyes.

The two boys spent another twenty minutes finishing up small things here and there before heading out to the ball. They were meant to get to the ball an hour before it started to help set up and learn more about their jobs. The ball was being healed at a local country club that was situated on the beach. The event consisted of two areas. There was the ballroom and the outdoor garden the lead to the beach. The country club had more rooms and space than just the ballroom and the garden but the school had only rented out these two areas.

Once at the country club, Johan and Bret parked the car and made their way in. Johan could not help but admire the colorful array of rose bushes that decorated the path to the front entrance. He also noticed that the bushes were decorated with fairy lights; thought the lights were not on at the moment. Once in the building they were greeted by a large wide hall that was decorated with chandeliers and beautiful painting. Johan could not help but admire the wonderful paintings that hung from the wall. They were led by a country club worker to the ball room, where everyone was meant to meet.

Upon entering the ballroom Johan's eyes widened with wonder. The room was huge and magnificent. It looked as if it could hold several hundred people. The front of the room held a large stage that was decorated with fresh flowers. In front of the stage was a huge dance floor that looked to be made of some sort of expensive wood. Surrounding the dance floor were many tables and chairs decorated in red and pink. In the center of each table was a small bouquet of roses in beautiful glass vases. The whole room itself was decorated with white, red and pink hearts of all shapes and sizes. From the ceiling he noticed large beautiful red and pink cloth streamers drooping down around the chandeliers. For a second, Johan could not help but wonder what it would be like to attend this ball with Judai. He imagined himself and Judai holding each other close and swaying gracefully in the center of the dance floor. A pink blush graced Johan's soft cheeks as he shook the ridiculous thought from his mind. 'He does not love you!' Johan scolded himself as a sharp pain stuck his heart.

Johan soon found that this was the area he was going to be working at. He would be working with James and three other boys on the team. Their job is to carry around drink and orderves and serve them to the people at the tables. Johan figured that this job was not too bad and would probably keep him relatively distracted.

With only 30 minutes to spare, the catering company quickly instructed the boys on what to do. They then told them to wait in the kitchen that was connected to the ballroom until guests started to show up. While waiting in the kitchen, Johan and his teammate all talked about what they wished they were doing at the moment instead of working at the ball.

XXX

Judai could not help but feel like fainting. In about hour or so, he was going to finally confront Johan about his feelings. Everyone, including Bret, had done something to help out and make sure everything went smoothly tonight. Judai knew that now the majority of it all was up to him. He could not mess this up. Despite the many butterflies that threatened to explode from his stomach; Judai knew that this plan was foolproof. He trusted his friend's words and believes in them, just as they believe in him.

"Don't worry my dear Prince Judai, nothing is going to go wrong. I already got a text from Lady Liz saying that Princess Johan and Sir Bret are already at the ball," Fubuki sang as he patted Judai's shoulder. Fubuki had taken to speaking about everything as if this whole event was some fairytale. At the moment, Fubuki was wearing a deep blue suit with a silky read tie that popped out against the blue.

"He's already their? But why?" Judai asked, not really minding having the title of prince, especially since Johan gets to be the princess.

At the moment, the two were sitting in the back of Jim's car. Jim was driving and Asuka had taken the passenger's seat of the car. "Judai, we have been over this before. Johan is their early because he is helping out at the event! It was the only way to make sure he would show up," Asuka tuned around in her seat as she spoke to the boys. She was dressed in a beautiful light blue, Cinderella-esk, ball gown. Her light brown hair was half pulled back and she had beautiful forget-me-nots weaved throughout her hair. To Jim, Asuka should be the princess, not Johan.

"Oh, right," Judai replied as he scratched the side of his nose. He then looked out the window as he once again got lost in thought. He wondered if he was really going to be able to sneak into the ball without being seen by Johan until the time was right. Judai just had to keep himself hidden till 9pm.

As the drive went on, Judai studied himself in the window's reflection. He had borrowed one of Fubuki's old suits for the night. Judai was not too keen on the idea of a suit but everyone insisted that he wear one. The suit he was in at the moment was maroonish-red. Under the suit he had a black undershirt and white silk tie. Though the suit fit him nicely and showed off his figure well, Judai could not help but feel extremely uncomfortable. Weather this feeling was from the suit or form his nerve, he did not know, but blaming it on the suit made him feel better.

"Looks like we are here," Jim announced as he followed signs to a designated parking lot for the ball goers.

Jim's voice grabbed Judai form his thoughts, causing the boy to focuses on what was outside the window instead of his reflection. "Wow, this place is huge," Judai commented as his eyes studied the country club.

"Yeah, it's so beautiful! And look at all those rose bushes! It's like an enchanted garden! The perfect place for you to woo your princess," Fubuki sang as his eyes teared up with liquid passion.

"Calm down boy," Asuka dryly commented as she shot a stern look at her brother. "When the time comes you are to leave Johan and Judai completely alone! Do I make myself clear," she carried on as she scolded her brother. Fubuki shot her a sad puppy dog look that did nothing to faze the girl.

Jim parked the car and they all set off towards the ball. Jim and Asuka walked arm in arm as they lead Judai and Fubuki to the front door. Jim was wearing a classic black suit with a white button up and a light blue tie to match Asuka's dress. He had decided to leave Karen at home for this event. He knew Karen was not too happy about it but he would make it up to her later. Though he loved Karen more than anything, his main focus for tonight was the pretty queen that was latched onto his arm. Jim almost lost his breath every time he looked at Asuka.

"Oh my, look at that," Fubuki squeaked as he grabbed onto Judai's arm and pointed at the couple in front of them. "I can't believe my little Asuka had finally found her king," he sang as passion filled tears threatened to fall from his brown eyes yet again. "You know, for the longest time, I always thought you would be the one to sweep my Asuka away, but I guess I was wrong," Fubuki then sighed as the main entrance came into view.

"You what?!" Judai nearly shouted as he stopped in his tracks. Fubuki's words caught him completely off guard. Before Judai could say or do anything else, Fubuki stuck out his tongue and released his arm. He then danced up the path to where Jim and Asuka were. Judai just stood in shock as he watched Fubuki lovingly harass Asuka. 'Me and Asuka…?' Judai thought as an amused smirk spread across his face. The thought had never even crossed his mind. Judai then noticed that half of his nerves had lifted. With comfortable sigh Judai resumed walking up the path after his friends.

Judai was a few paces behind everyone else when he arrived at the entrance. To his dismay, the last person he wanted to see what greeting the attendees at the door. "Oh god! Not Bret," Judai whispered under his breath as he rolled his eyes.

As Judai approached the door Bret caught sight of him. "Well, well, well! If it isn't the man of the night," Bret sarcastically sang as Judai came closer.

Judai tried his best to force a friendly smile on his face. "Good evening to you too, Bret," Judai said as he tried to keep his tone as calm and friendly as possible. He knew that he should be kinder towards Bret. Bret had been the one to make sure Johan came to the Ball, but due to their past history, it was hard for Judai to view the boy in a positive light. Judai slowed his pace as he came closer to Bret. He knew that he should thank the purple haired boy for all his help, even if the idea did make him sick.

"Well, don't you look snazzy tonight," Bret said as he looked Judai up and down.

Judai could not help but feel a bit weirded out by Bret's yellow stare. It was like the purple haired boy could see right through him. He shook the feeling from his head as he tried to keep his demeanor calm. "Listen Bret… I just… Thank you for the help," Judai sighed as he tried to sound and look as friendly as he could.

"Oh, don't mention it! I'm not doing it for you," Bret said as he shook his head and closed his eyes. "It's all for Doll Face," he then added, a sad smile spread across his lips. He sat quiet for a second before shaking his head and returning back to his normal demeanor. "Anyways! Make sure you knock um dead!" Bret cheered with a bright smile.

Judai could not help but return the boy's smile. "Thanks, I'll do my best," Judai said with a confident sigh. He then carried on walking but before he could get much further, he was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

"But remember! This is your last chance. If you do anything to make Johan cry again, don't think I won't swoop in and take him from you," Bret growled into Judai's ear.

Judai felt his body tense as Bret's breath swept across his neck. Before he could so much as react, Bret's presence was gone. By the time Judai turned around Bret was back at the door greeting people. Judai shot Bret a confident determined look as if to day 'there will be no next time' as he made briefe eye contact with the boy. The contact only lasted a second before the two boys ripped their eyes away from one another and carried on with their night.

XXX

Johan had only been at it for 30 minutes and he was already exhausted. In the past 30 minutes he had served well over a hundred people. He looked at the clock on the kitchen wall to see that it read 7:40pm. At 9pm he would be allowed a short break to do as he pleased. At the moment, Johan wanted to spend those thirty minutes doing nothing but he had promised to dance with Liz during his brake. 'Oh well, I can dance with her for half the break and then rest the second half,' Johan thought, letting loose a big sigh as he picked up another tray of cheese cake. 'I just need to hold on till the break.'

With the large tray of cheese cake in one hand, he used his free hand to open the kitchen door and enter the crowded ballroom. The room was now dark and there were well over 200 people comfortably crammed into the large room. The school had hired a live local band to play music and many people were out on the dance floor getting their groove on.

As he made his way to the tables full of people, Johan looked to the dance floor where a large group of people were dancing to a slow song Johan recognized but did not know the name of. A small smile spread across his pink lips as he imagined dancing with Judai out on the romantically lit dance floor. He hesitated only a second as the thought passed through his mind before shaking the thought and returning to his work.

In no less than ten minutes, every last slice of cheese cake from his tray had been taken by one of the guests. Johan started to wonder if there was going to be any cheesecake left for him and the other's on his team to eat. 'Well, I guess I will never be able to find out exactly how much cheese cake I can eat without getting sick,' Johan thought as he made his way across the ballroom and back to the kitchen.

As Johan walked back to the kitchen, he did not notice a foot shoot out from a table and into his direct path. "Whaaaa!" Johan shouted as he stumbled over the stray foot but was able to regain his balance before hitting the ground.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the useless piece of shit himself. Where have you been recently, shit face? Too scared to show your deformities in duel class?" came a snarky voice that sent a jolt of anger through Johan's bones.

Johan hesitantly turned his head to see his number one enemy. "Rick!" he hissed under his breath as his bright green eyes narrowed. Something in the pit of Johan's stomach wanted to whip out his deck and duel disk here and now and duel the yellow haired demon in front of him. Though his deck was safely tucked away in his pants back pocket, his duel disk was back in his room. 'Oh, well! I have work to do anyways,' Johan inwardly sighed as the idea of beating Rick made the anger in the pit of his stomach fade. Without saying another word Johan made to turn back to the kitchen, not wanting to get into any sort of fight, but was stopped when a greasy hand grabbed onto his wrist.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going, slave," Rick asked as he looked Johan up and down.

Johan cocked an eyebrow as Rick's words hit his ears. "Slave…?" Johan questioned as he turned his attention back to Rick. "Excuse me?"

"That's right, you're dressed in the slave uniform, which means you are here to serve the real guests of the party…" Rick hissed as his eyes moved up and down Johan's body.

Johan could not help but feel a bit violated by Rick's stare. Johan then looked around at the table that Rick was sitting at. There were at least five other boys sitting around the table with Rick, all shooting Johan the same snarky smirk Rick was giving him. Johan felt a bit of discomfort pump through his veins as he wished Judai were here to help back him up. Johan was confident that he would be able to take on Rick and maybe one or two of his friends, but all of them was probably too much. "What do you want, Rick?" Johan asked with an annoyed sigh.

Before Johan could do anything, Rick grabbed him by his pink tie and pulled him closer. "Is that any way to talk to your master, slave," Rick threatened as his hot stinky breath whisked across Johan's cheek.

Johan did not feel threatened in the least by Rick. "Rick, I'm not a slave and you, nor any of your…" Johan paused as he studied the other boys at the table. "Any of you ogre friends, are my master," Johan could not help but smirk as he said this. "Now，please let my tie go before I have to hurt you…" Johan shot a bright green glare at Rick as he said this.

Rick's sneer faltered as he was shot by Johan's green glare. Without letting go of Johan's bright pink tie, Rick gathered all the cowardly courage he had and reached for a half full cup of punch that was next to him on the table. Without saying a word, he simultaneously let go of Johan's tied and threw the cup of punch onto Johan's shirt. A wide smirk spread across his wicked face as he watched Johan's eyes go from threatening to shock.

"AH!" Johan shouted as he stepped back in a failed attempt to dodge the red juice. The front of his shirt and vest was now soaked in the sticky substance. Johan sat in utter disbelief as he looked down at his cloths. All the boys at the table were pointing and laughing at him. Some other people around at the other tables were whispering and looking at him as well. For a second Johan was overtaken by embarrassment. Soon his embarrassment turned to rage as he looked from his sticky cloths to Rick.

"Oops, it slipped," Rick chirped as he shot an innocent look at Johan. "I guess this means I need a new drink," he lifted an amused eyebrow as he started down the sticky Johan.

Johan's hands clenched into fists as he felt his face go red. Frustrated tears gathered at the sides of his green eyes as he glared at Rick. It was almost as if all the frustration, anger, and sorrow he had been feeling since his rejection had built up. Johan reeled his right arm back as he readied to release said feelings onto Rick's face. All logic gone, Johan shot his fist forward as he let out a frustrated grunt. Only centimeters away from Rick's face, Johan's fist was intercepted by a large strong hand.

"Long time to see, mate," came an oh so familiar voice.

Johan's rage faded as the familiar voice entered his ears. He looked around to see that the strong hand that had stopped his punch belonged to none other than Jim. "Jim…" Johan mumbled as he looked up at his Aussie friend. Johan then looked at Rick to see a horrified look on his, as well as his friend's, faces. It looked almost as if Rick had pissed himself. Johan could not help but inwardly smirk. He then looked around to notice that everyone in the general area was shooting the group very concerned and alert looks. Johan drew his fist back as the many stares bore into him.

"Okay, okay! Nothing to see here! Move along!" Jim said as he wrapped one arm around Johan's shoulder and waved the other one around in an attempt to show that the show was over. He then guided the still shocked Johan away from the instigators. "Wow, mate, I didn't know you had such a strong right hook," Jim sighed as he rubbed the hand that had stopped the punch.

"Oh, Jim! I… I'm sorry," Johan stuttered, a slight blush gracing his delicate cheeks. Normally Johan was a peaceful person who avoided physical conflict. He felt shame overtake him knowing that he had probably seemed very childish. "I… I don't know what came over me…"

"Oh, don't mention it, mate. Rick's deserves a punch in the face," Jim said with a wink. 'But now is not the right time for you to get into a fist fight,' he then inwardly sighed. He was glad to be able to stop Johan, knowing that Johan probably would have been kicked out if he had fought with Rick.

"Oh, my! Is that dear Johan?" Fubuki sang as he and Asuka came into sight. They were sitting at a table munching on cheese cake and drinking juice.

"Oh… Hey… Long time no see," Johan greeted as he wondered if the two had seen the incident.

"Yes, it has been a while… How have you been?" Asuka asked as she turned in her seat to fully face Johan.

"Oh, I… I have been okay…" Johan lied. He really did not know what to tell them. He wondered if Judai had told them of the rejection.

The three friends looked over Johan knowing very well that he was not fine. His hair was a mess, he was covered in sticky juice and they were all almost certain that he was much thinner than the last time they saw him. "Well, why don't you join us and have a drink," Fubuki suggested as he pulled out a chair.

Johan made for the chair before remembering that he was meant to be working. "Oh… um… I would love to… but… I'm working at the moment… helping out… I will be free at around 9pm if… ya know… you want to meet," Johan explained as he looked to the floor. He hadn't realized till now how much he had missed his dueling friends. He really wanted to catch up with them.

"Oh right… Well maybe we can talk with you on your break time," Asuka suggested. She then looked Johan up and down. "And maybe you should clean up a bit before you get back to work," she said as she pointed to Johan's sticky cloths.

"Oh... right… I um… tripped and spilled juice," Johan lied as his cheeks went pink. He glanced at Jim in hopes that the Aussie boy would go along with the story.

"Ah, mate, getting clumsy in your old age?" Jim joked with a wink as he nudged Johan's shoulder, though he knew that both Asuka and Fubuki had seen the whole affair. Asuka had been the one to send Jim over to stop it before a fight broke out.

"Are you okay…? Do you need any help cleaning up?" Asuka suggested as she looked Johan over once again.

"Nah, I should be okay… thanks anyways. Well, maybe I will see you guys on my break," Johan sighed as he bid his three friends a good bye.

Jim sat down as the three watched Johan disappear into the crowd of people. "Poor old bloke, something about him just seems so off," Jim sighed as he turned around and properly faced the table.

"Yeah, it almost as if his charming shine has been taken away from him," Fubuki sighed as he rested his chin under his hands.

"I guess he really is broken up over Judai…" Asuka added as she too let loose a concerned sigh.

"It's okay, everything is going to work out and Johan's shine will surely return to him," Fubuki declared as he slammed his hand's onto the table causing the other two to jump.

"You're right mate, we can't give up on them yet," Jim added as he shook himself of his worries.

"Well then, we better get going to help Judai prepare," Asuka said as she too stood up. The three all exchanged determined looks before abandoning their tables and getting into position.

XXX

'Just 5 minutes,' Johan thought as he entered the kitchen, yet again with an empty tray. It had taken him a good twenty minutes to scrub his shirt, tie and vest before he went back to work. Despite all the scrubbing he did, his clothing was still stained red and he smelt of fruit. Johan supposed that being soaked in juice was still better than being soaked in beer. He looked back up at the clock seeing that it was now only two minutes till his break began. "No one will notice if I start a bit early," he sighed aloud as he made his way to exit the kitchen.

As he exited the kitchen, he was greeted by two bright green eyes and a large white smile. "Johan! Are you, like, off your shift?" Liz asked as she ambushed the boy.

"Ah," Johan squeaked as he jumped in surprised but soon realized that it was just Liz. "Oh… right! Yeah, I'm off now, I guess," Johan sighed as he ran a hand through his messy teal hair.

"Great!" Liz said as she got up into Johan's face. "Let's dance then," she sang as she grabbed Johan's wrist and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Wait, Liz. I just got off. Can't I rest for at least a minute," Johan moaned as he reluctantly followed the excited girl to the dancefloor.

"Nope! Beside, you, like, promised to dance with me! And I have been, like, waiting all night long," Liz pouted as she turned on her heels to face Johan.

Johan rolled his eyes and let loose a deep sigh. "I can never beat you, can I?" Johan sighed as a smile spread across his face. Maybe some dancing would help his nerves.

The two danced to a few fast pace songs before the band switched tone and started to play a slower, more romantic song. As the song began to play, Liz threw her arms around Johan's shoulders and pulled him in close. Johan, surprised by this action, slowly laid his hands on Liz's waist. He did not know why, but being this close to someone, that was not Judai, while a romantic song plain made him feel funny. He shook the feeling away as he reminded himself that it was only Liz he as dancing with. As the slow song plaid, Johan did not notice that Liz had been slowly guiding him to the center of the dance floor. Once at the center the two began to dance in place.

As the song ended Liz and Johan pulled away from each other. Their attention was then pulled to the front of the stage as the lead singer signaled for everyone to look at the stage. "Hello all you lovebirds! How is your Valentines Day going? Pretty sweet if you ask me," the singer commented as he looked around at the crowd of lovers on the dance floor. "The next song is a special song dedicated to a special someone in the crowd," the man hummed as people in the crowd made suggestive noises wondering who the special someone is.

All of a sudden all the lights in the room went pitch black. Some people playfully screamed and gasped but everyone soon calmed down. Johan tried looking around wondering if he should stay on the dance floor or not. The main singers spoke again causing the whole dark room to go quiet. "This next song will be sung by a singer with the stage name Neos Prince and is dedicated to his Crystal Princess," the man cooed as a single spotlight shot down on Johan.

Johan sat in utter shock as the light bore down on him. He had no clue what was going on. He felt Liz slip away. He looked around in an attempt to get out of the spotlight but his path was blocked on all sides. The people around him were either shooting him confused stares or sappy smiles. Johan then heard someone walk out onto the front stage. He turned to see who it was as his heart beat madly against his chest. All feeling in Johan's body drained as his bright green eyes locked with the passionate brown one's on the stage.

"J-Judai…" Johan whispered as he felt his body go numb. Before Johan knew what was happening, music began to play.

Without breaking eye contact Judai opened his mouth and his voice let loose a sweet note that touched Johan's heart.

_I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad_

_Carry you around when your feeling bad_

_All I wanna do is grow old with you_

'W-what's going on…?' Johan blankly thought as he tried to decide if this was a dream. For a brief second Johan pulled his eyes away from Judai to see if there was some mistake. 'Why was Judai singing a love song? Why am I the one in the spotlight,' Johan's mind numbly thought as he looked back up to the stage at Judai. Johan's questions were immediately forgotten as his green eyes soaked in the passion that radiated from Judai's soft brown gaze. Johan felt a pleasurable shiver run down his spine as Judai's sweet voice entered his ears yet again

_I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches_

_Build you a duel disk if yours breaks_

_Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you_

Though Johan did not realize it, a large sappy smile had spread across his face. 'Is this… for me…?' Johan thought as tears of joy started to gather around his eyes. He brought his hands to his chest as he tried his best to contain his emotions. Johan's heart was beating so loud that he was sure everyone in the room could hear it. 'This better not be a dream.'

_I'll miss you_

_Kiss you_

_Give you my coat when you are cold_

At this point Judai jumped off of the stage. The people in his way slowly parted like the red sea, making a nice path straight to Johan. Johan felt his breath catch at Judai advanced on them, neither one breaking eye contact.

_Need you_

_Feed you_

_Even let ya hold my cool Neos card_

As Judai came closer, Johan suddenly realized how real the situation was. Was this really happening to him? 'What if Judai was singing to someone else?' Johan thought but knew that he was the one Judai was singing to. Johan's body, overwhelmed by his emotions and the situation, began to quiver as Judai stopped walking and stood only centimeters away.

As Judai took a breath to finish the last verse, he lifted his hand and placed it on Johan's soft cheek. His thumb lovingly stroked Johan's cheek as he carried on singing.

Without thinking, Johan tilted his head into Judai's hand, savoring every moment; both boys never breaking eye contact.

_So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink_

_Put you to bed if you've done too much dueling_

_I could be the man who grows old with you_

_I wanna grow old with you_

As the last note exited Judai's mouth, Johan felt a sudden shiver of excitement and pleasure run down his spine. "J-Judai….I-" Johan began to stutter but was cut off by a pair of strong lips passionately smashing against his own. For a second Johan sat in utter shock as Judai kissed him. Then his instincts took over and Johan began to passionately return Judai's kiss. The teal haired boy wrapped his arms around his crushes neck and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. In return, Judai wrapped his arms around Johan's waist and pulled their bodies together as close as he could. Both boys' tongues lightly touched as the kiss deepened. They savored the taste of the kiss as they tried to control the moans that threatened to let loose from deep within their throats. Due to both still being new at passionate kissing, the kiss they shared was very awkward but brought so much pleasure.

After what seemed like an eternity of ecstasy, the two boys pulled apart and stared passionately into each other's eyes. "J-Judai," Johan mumbled as tears of joy ran down his soft cheeks. "I-is this… for real?" Johan asked, praying to god that it was not another dream.

Judai could not help but smile softly as he lifted a hand and delicately wiped a tear from Johan's cheek. "Johan… I'm sorry for hurting you… I… I know I can't live without you… I love you," as Judai ended his confession, he planted a soft kiss on Johan's tear stained cheek.

More tears of joy streamed down Johan's cheeks as he swore that his heart was going to explode from his chest as Judai's confession sunk in. "J-Judai… I… I of course I," Johan stuttered, losing control of his voice due to his sudden wave of joyous emotions. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he needed to say. "I… I love you, too," Johan finally squeaked, barely able to keep control of his voice.

Judai leaned forward and planted another sweet kiss on Johan's lips. Johan closed his eyes and came as close as he could to Judai as he returned the kiss.

_*Click Flash Click*_

Both boys ripped themselves from the kiss and jumped in surprised as they both came back to reality. They both looked around as they remembered that they were still in the center of the dance floor with the spotlight shining down right on them. Hundreds of eyes were fixed on them; most people had sappy looks upon their faces. Fubuki was front and center and had just taken a photo of the confession. The passionate boy looked like he was about to cry from utter joy.

Johan felt a wave of embarrassment overcome him as he realized that everyone had been watching. As his cheeks went from pink to bright red, Johan buried his face into Judai's neck. He felt Judai lay a comforting hand on his head. This won them a few coos from some girls in the crowd.

Without warning, the band onstage began to play another slow song as the spotlight faded away and the lighting of the room returned to its normal romantic dim glow.

Johan, still slightly mortified by the fact that their intimate moment was seen by thousands of people, still hid his head in Judai's neck as he tried to regain his composure. Before he knew what was going on, Johan felt Judai's hands wrap around his waist as Judai began to sway to the music. Johan looked from his hiding stop and was greeted by a warm loving smile as Judai mouthed 'I love you'. Johan felt his heart melt with joy as his embarrassment faded. After a second of regaining himself, Johan slipped his hands around Judai's neck and pulled him close. "Love you too," he whispered into Judai's ear as he too started to sway to the music. The two held each other close, never wanting it to end, as they swayed as one to the music.

XXX

After the slow song ended, the two boys were bombarded by their close friends, all wishing them congratulations. Johan could not believe that everyone had been in on this, even Bret. Johan felt so touched to know that his friends cared for him so much. He also felt embarrassed for the way he had been acting this whole week. He had acted like the world had ended because he thought Judai did not like him, but everyone knew that was not the case.

After enjoying time with their friend on the dance floor and eating cheese cake at the tables, Johan and Judai snuck away to the outdoor garden for some alone time. They found a nice bench surrounded by rose bushes that overlooked the calm sea. It was late now and both the moon and the stars were shining overhead. It was only a half moon so one could only really make out the sea if they tried really hard. At the moment the two boys were a bit busy with other priorities to worry about what the sea looked like from the bench they were sitting on.

"Judai… I… I can't believe this is… not a dream," Johan said as he placed a hand on Judai's leg. " I thought for sure that… you…" Johan looked at the floor as his cheeks went pink. He was still a bit embarrassed for the way he acted. He should have known that Judai would never toss him out over a confession. Johan was just so happy that it turned out Judai really did return his feelings. "I... I'm sorry," Johan mumbled, his eyes still studied the ground.

Judai shot a surprised look at his new boyfriend. 'What? Why is he sorry? I'm the one that should be sorry,' Judai thought as he studied his cute teal haired boyfriend. He then reached a hand out and lifted Johan's chin so that they could make eyes contact. Judai noticed right away that Johan's cheeks went red the second their eyes met. Judai did not know it, but his cheeks also went a bit red at the eye contact. "Johan, what are you talking about? Why would you be sorry?" Judai asked as he studied every last detail on Johan's face.

Johan's heart began to race as he felt Judai's passionate stare. "Well… I… ran off… without giving you a proper chance to answer…" Johan sighed as his eyes looked to the side and down a bit, it was hard for him to speak clearly when making eye contact with Judai.

Judai felt his mouth tug into a smile as he processed what Johan had said. He dropped Johan's chin and held his hands to his mouth in an attempt hide how hilarious and cute he was finding Johan. "That's why you're sorry?" Judai asked as he tried to keep his voice from sounding too amused.

Johan looked from the ground to his, once crush, now boyfriend. Johan felt his cheeks go from red to fire engine red as he realized that Judai was trying to hold back his laughter. "What? What's so funny!?" Johan asked in an annoyed tone as his cheeks puffed up. "I'm serious! I was dumb of me to think that you would abandon me…. I should have known better," Johan huffed, his voice cracking with emotion. Johan's emotion filled, stern green eyes studded Judai as he spoke. Judai was not the best at picking up on other's emotions and Johan knew that; he still loves the brown haired boy despite it.

Judai's heart melted as he listened to Johan. 'He thought I ditched him?' Judai thought as his smile died down a bit. He looked to Johan and his heart almost melted by what he saw. Johan's big green eyes were soft but stern, his pink cheeks were puffed in annoyance and his lower lip was sticking out in a cute little pout. He reminded Judai of an angry cat. Feeling his heart melt for the 100th time that night, Judai swing his arms around Johan's neck and pulled the boy into a deep hug. "Oh, Johan, how could I have been so foolish… You did nothing wrong… I'm the sorry one… I'm just stupid sometimes… and don't always think thing through well… and… the last thing I ever wanted to do was make you cry… please forgive me," as Judai spoke he nuzzled his face into Johan's soft teal hair, savoring the wonderful smell, thought he did notice something off about Johan's smell.

It was Johan's turn to be socked. For a second he sat still in Judai's hold as the brunet's words sunk in. A small smiled spread across his face, Johan wrapped his arms around Judai's chest and rested his head on Judai's shoulder. It felt like heaven to hold the burnet duelist in such a way. "Of course I forgive you…" Johan whispered into Judai's ear. He felt a shiver travel through Judai's body as he spoke.

Both boys held the embrace in silence for what felt like an eternity; both savoring the scent of the other. After a while they both pulled back and exchanged loving smiles, both feeling like they were complete. As Johan stared deep into Judai's soft eyes, a sudden thought came to him. "Judai, how long did it take you to, ya know, realize you… like me back?" Johan asked as his cheeks went pink yet again. He could not believe he was asking this question.

Judai sat in utter confusion as he tried to remember when he had realized his feelings for Johan. It felt like they had always been there to begin with. After thinking hard for a moment he found what he thought was an appropriate answer. "Ya know, to tell you the truth… I think I started, ya know, liking you a while back… I just didn't realize it," Judai started, it was now his turn to blush. "I think it finally hit me… the day you confessed… after I went home… seeing that look in your eyes when you thought I rejected you… it hurt so bad," Judai spoke as he stroked Johan cheek lovingly, his expression full of regret.

A smile spread across Johan's lips as his head leaned into Judai's touched. "I guess we are both stupid," Johan replied with a chuckle. This won him a goofy grin from his boyfriend. He stared into Judai's eyes yet again before another question hit him. "Well, if you knew your feelings right then, why did it take you so long to… confess," Johan asked as he tilted his head.

Judia let loose a deep sigh as he tried to find a tasteful way to explain himself. He let his hand drop from Johan's face as he thought. "Well, I did try," he started, his mind still piecing together the correct way to explain it all. "You see, I came to your room three times… and all three times… you were not around," Judai began to explain. "The first time I was me by the person who lives across from you. He… I mean she, said that you were out…"

"Wait, you mean that Miguel Bubbles exists?" Johan asked playfully, thought he really was surprised to hear that Judai met his neighbor. Johan myself had yet to meet the girl.

"Um, yeah… She was a bit strange but was the one who encouraged me to never give up on you," Judai replied with a wide smile. "If it was not for her encouragement, I would have never made you that cake," Judai then explained, his brown eyes sparkled from the fairy lights that hung in the nearby rose bushes.

"Wait? There was a cake?" Johan asked as pieces of the puzzle finally started to fit together.

"Yeah, I stayed up almost all Sunday night making it for you. I wrote my feelings on it in red frosting, and made it teal to match you beautiful hair… and left it at the door because no one was home," Judai carried on as he stared deep into Johan's green gaze.

"You mean… that cake… was from you… to me?" Johan said, his eyes full of surprise and understanding. 'But Bret told me…' Johan thought as his eyes narrowed a bit.

Judai could not help but grin as he saw the realization in Johan's eyes. Wanting to keep the mood enjoyable and not hostile, Judai carried on with his explanation. "After that I… I got a little desperate… and I know it sounds totally stupid but… I bought you a box of chocolates and a rose… but when I came to see you… you were not there… or at least that is what Bret told me at the time…" Judai sighed.

"The rose too…?" Johan mumbled to himself as he finally understood. This whole time he thought Judai had been avoiding him, but in reality Judai had been desperately trying to get to him. Johan felt his heart melt as he once again exchanged passionate gazes with Judai. "Oh, Judai…" he whispered. Before he could think of anything else to say, Johan felt himself being pulled into another warm embrace. Without any coaxing Johan returned the hug.

"After that, I became so desperate!" Judai carried on his explanation as he held his boyfriend close. "I didn't know what to do, and finally Yubel talked me into finding help."

"Yubel?" Johan mumbled. He was almost certain that the last thing Yubel would ever do was share Judai.

Ignoring Johan's confusion Judai carried on. "I went to Asuka and the others. It was all thanks to them. It really was. If they had not helped me, we would both still be alone. If they had not come up with this plan, I would not be holding you in my arms right now," Judai gave Johan a tight squeeze as he said all this. "We truly are lucky to have such wonderful friends," Judai mumbled as he let loose a sigh. It felt good to finally explain it all to Johan.

Johan returned Judai's squeeze with a squeeze of his own. "Yeah, we sure are lucky to have such caring friends," Johan agreed as he let loose a content sigh. He made a mental note to thank them all later. Maybe he would make them dinner.

Judai then placed his hands on Johan's shoulders and pulled himself from Johan. Holding the teal haired boy at arm's length, he stared deep into Johan's gem green eyes. Johan's shot Judai a confused look as he tried to understand why Judai had broken the hug. Judai stared deep into Johan's eyes as he tried to find the right way to convey his feelings. "I was so afraid that I would lose you… I was willing to do anything to get you back. I promise that I will try my best to never hurt you again," as Judai spoke, one of his hands caressed the side of Johan's cheek yet again. "I-I love you," Judai whispered, his gaze letting loose all sorts of emotions.

Johan felt his heart beat like crazy and his cheeks go ret as he took in Judai's words. He never thought being cherished by Judai would feel so good. It was the best feeling ever, almost as good as beating Judai in a duel. He leaned his head yet again into Judai's hand as his gaze, too, overflowed with love. "Judai… I love you, t-" but before Johan could finish his sentence he was jerked forward. The next thing he knew, he was sharing a passionate kiss with Judai.

Bother with their eyes closed as they held each other close, Johan had his arms wrapped around Judai's neck and Judai had his wrapped around Johan's chest. The two pressed closer at their kiss deepened. They could both feel the others heart beat as they paused for a second to take a breath before jumping back into another kiss. Every now and then their tongues would timidly meet and they would get a small taste of one another. They were both still a little unsure about taking it further.

The small awkward make out session seemed to last an eternity for the two boys and by the time it was over, they were both out of breath. They both exchanged lustful gazes as they caught their breath. Judai notice right away how pink Johan's lips had become, making him want to kiss the teal haired boy yet again. He leaned in and planted a light kiss on Johan's soft pink lips. Johan closed his green eyes as he savored the kiss, feeling a bit disappointed when it ended too soon. Without a word Judai then laced his arm around Johan's shoulder, bring the teal haired boy in close.

Johan's eyes shot open as he felt himself being pulled into a warm snuggle. He then rested his head on Judai's chest. He could not help but smiled at the sound of Judai's beating heart. His smile grew even wider when he felt Judai nuzzled the top of his head. Johan snuggled deeper into Judai's embrace as a warm soothing feeling spread from his heart to every last limb on his body.

The two boys sat in complete silence as they savored the moment. They were both excited to see where their relationship would lead them next. They knew they would have tough challenges to surpass in this relationship, but not matter what they had to face, it would all be well worth it to be able to hold the one you love.

((Well there you have it! Did you enjoy it? Was it everything you dreamed of and more? Sorry if the end was awkward. I guess I am not as romantic as I thought. Also, the song is from the movie _The Wedding Singer_. The idea of Johan and Judai growing old together was just too cute in my mind! I changed some lyrics around so that it was more… Yugioh/Duelists… It's odd, this being the end and all. I'm sort of happy and sad… really sad! But rest assured, I do plan to make a sequel (maybe 2).

The next addition to this story will revolve around their first year of their relationship leading up to their anniversary. It will probably be half the size of this one. Probably mostly fluff with a bit of life drama here and there. It will be the sophomore years of Uni.

Then I hope to write a third addition that revolves more around there future and career as duelists. I already know what path I want them to take but I am not telling. :P So let me know, would you be interesting in me expanding on this story? If I did expand, I would probably start the next addition sometimes in winter (December or January?).

Also, I **may** add a small chapter to this one as an epilog to lead into the next addition. So there **may** be one more chapter coming out.

Now I want to thank you all for the wonderful support you gave me throughout this story. I seriously thought no one would read it! To tell you the truth, if it were not for you readers, I probably would not have finished it! Thank you all so much for being so loyal to this story. I really had a great time seeing what you all had to say! I hope to see you all again in the other stories I write. Oh god I feel like I am saying bye to a close friend T-T . Please, everyone take care and thank you all again for the wonderful time! ))

((A big thanks for Judaisbutt for being my beta throughout this whole story.))

((JaydenNg: Thank you so much for being so loyal to this story! It would not be nearly as wonderful without your beautiful art as the cover art. I hope to see you again in my future stories! Please take care!))


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